Stack 
Annex 
BF 
161 


1865 


OBSERVATIONS 


GROWTH    OF    THE     MIND. 


BT   SAMPSON    REED. 


FIFTH    EDITION. 


BOSTON: 

T.   H.   CARTER  AND   COMPANY. 

LONDON:  C.  P.  ALVT. 

1865. 


KIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 

STEEEOTTPED  AND  FEINTED  BY 

H.  0.  HOUGHTON  AND  COMPANY. 


Stack 
Annex 


PREFACE 

TO    THE    THIRD    EDITION, 


"  THE  Growth  of  the  Mind  "  was  first  published  in 
the  year  1826,  and  has  now  been  through  two  editions 
in  this  country,  and  one  or  more  in  England. 

So  far  as  an  author  duly  feels  in  whose  presence  he 
stands,  it  can  be  no  source  of  gratification  to  him  to 
attract  personal  admiration  or  praise.  He  must  re- 
gard himself  as  only  a  medium  of  truth  from  the  one 
only  Source  of  truth,  and  the  forms  in  which  he  has 
been  permitted  to  present  it,  as  useful  only  so  far  as 
they  are  suitable  vessels  to  contain  and  to  communi- 
cate it.  Truth  itself — simple — unadorned — divine — 
is  at  the  present  day  revealed,  yet  noticed  and  loved 
by  few.  The  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords  is 
standing  in  the  midst  of  us ;  "  but  he  hath  no  form 
nor  comeliness ;  and  when  we  shall  see  him,  there  is 
no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him."  The  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Sacred  Scripture  is  opened ;  "  yet  is  it 
despised  and  rejected  of  men." 


IV  PREFACE. 

The  present  age  is  characterized  by  the  love  of 
pleasing,  as  opposed  to  the  love  of  truth.  Fashion- 
able education,  as  it  is  often  pursued,  may  almost  be 
defined  the  cultivation  of  the  art  of  pleasing.  This  is 
but  too  frequently  the  end  for  which  so  much  labor  is 
bestowed,  by  which  a  wardrobe  of  accomplishments  is 
proyided,  which  may  be  used  as  occasion  requires. 
When  the  disposition  to  please  takes  the  first  place, 
it  is  obvious  that  truth  must  be  sought  only  as  it  is 
subservient  to  this  object.  "  How  can  ye  believe, 
which  receive  honor  one  of  another,  and  seek  not  the 
honor  that  cometh  from  God  only."  The  love  of 
pleasing  is  opposed  to  the  love  of  truth,  when  a  per- 
son desires  to  please  others,  in  order  that  he  may  gain 
an  influence  over  them,  for  the  sake  of  promoting  his 
own  private  ends  or  personal  advantage.  The  love 
of  pleasing  is  consistent  with  the  love  of  truth,  when 
a  person  desires  to  please,  for  the  sake  of  promoting 
the  good  of  others,  and  the  cause  of  truth  itself. 

The  New  Church  can  discern,  in  almost  every 
moral  or  religious  writer  of  any  acknowledged  merit 
at  the  present  day,  some  outbreakings  of  its  own 
power ;  while  its  principles  are  pressing  into  the  nat- 
ural sciences,  like  so  many  gushing  streams  from  an 
inexhaustible  fountain  above  them.  It  is  painful  to 
see  how  little  willingness  there  is  to  acknowledge  the 
source  of  truth  ;  and  how  often  a  man  seems  to  think 


PREFACE.  V 

that  it  has  answered  its  legitimate  purpose,  when  he 
has  bedecked  his  own  person  therewith,  so  as  to  com- 
mand the  admiration  of  the  multitude. 

The  time  is  approaching  when  the  claims  of  the 
New  Church  on  the  public  attention  may  not  be 
easily  set  aside.  There  is  a  problem  to  solve,  to 
which  those  who  reject  the  claims  of  this  Church, 
will  find  it  difficult  to  furnish  a  solution  ;  and  the  mis- 
representations and  ignorance  which  have  often  pre- 
vailed in  regard  to  it,  will,  before  many  years,  be  seen 
to  be  neither  consistent  with  good  manners  nor  good 
scholarship.  The  writings  of  Swedenborg  are  so 
pure  in  their  character  and  influence,  that  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community  will  bear  testimony  that  there 
is  no  wilful  imposture ;  and  they  are  so  perfect  in 
their  method  and  logic,  that  the  rationality  of  the 
community  will  bear  testimony  that  there  is  no  in- 
sanity. The  voice  of  these  two  witnesses  cannot 
be  silenced ;  and  the  day  is  approaching,  when  the 
assertion  that  these  writings  are  not  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  command  the  attention  of  the  public,  will 
not  be  hazarded  by  any  one,  who  either  is  a  man  of 
intelligence  or  seeks  to  be  so  esteemed. 

Still,  the  natural  mind  is  ever  backward  to  receive 
revealed  truth,  both  from  the  character  of  this  truth 
itself,  and  from  the  fact  of  its  being  revealed — from 
the  character  of  the  truth,  because  it  is  opposed  to 


VI  PREFACE. 

the  affections  and  principles  of  the  natural  mind,  and 
calculated  to  reform  and  regenerate  them — from  the 
fact  of  its  being  revealed,  because  it  leaves  no  place 
for  the  pride  of  discovery.  "  Whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  The  water  of  life 
is  really  as  free  as  natural  water ;  and  this  we  all 
know  is  the  common  gift  of  Providence  to  man  and 
beast.  But  the  condition  is,  that  we  should  will  to 
receive  it — that  we  should  acknowledge  it  to  be  the 
water  of  life,  and  endeavor  to  live  from  it — that  we 
should  seek  to  be  purified  and  regenerated  by  its  in- 
fluence. And  alas  !  how  few  are  disposed  to  comply 
with  these  conditions,  and  how  much  do  these  find  in 
themselves,  which  requires  to  be  subdued  and  put 


away 


From  these  causes  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
truths  of  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Sacred  Scripture, 
which  the  Lord  has  now  revealed  through  his  servant 
Emanuel  Swedenborg,  will  find  a  very  ready  recep- 
tion. Transcendentalism*  will  rather  be  caressed. 
This  is  the  product  of  man's  own  brain ;  and  when 
the  human  mind  has  been  compelled  to  relax  its  grasp 
on  sensualism,  and  the  philosophy  based  on  the  senses, 
it  may  be  expected  first  to  take  refuge  here.  Tran- 

*  By  Transcendentalism,,  I  mean  such  transcendentalism  as  we 
now  find,  without  any  reference  to  its  origin,  or  to  the  original 
meaning  of  the  word. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

scendentalism,  even  now,  offers  indications  of  an  ap- 
proaching popularity  in  this  country.  It  may  be 
something  gained,  when  the  idolater  no  longer  liter- 
ally worships  the  work  of  his  own  hands ;  even 
though  he  be  in  heart  an  idolater  still,  and  worship 
the  creations  of  his  own  imagination.  So  it  may  be 
a  step  forwards  from  sensualism  to  transcendentalism. 
It  may  be  a  necessary  step  in  the  progress  of  the 
human  mind.  But  they  still  lie  near  each  other — 
almost  in  contact.  There  is  among  insects  a  class 
called  parasites.  Their  instinct  leads  them  to  deposit 
their  eggs  in  the  bodies  of  other  insects,  where,  when 
the  young  is  hatched,  it  has  only  to  open  its  mouth 
and  eat  up  its  brother.  It  would  seem  to  be  in  a  way 
analogous  to  this,  that  Providence  often  permits  one 
falsity  to  be  removed  by  another.  Transcendentalism 
is  the  parasite  of  sensualism  ;  and  when  it  shall  have 
done  its  work,  it  will  be  found  to  be  itself  a  worm, 
and  the  offspring  of  a  worm. 

The  Sacred  Scripture  is  the  only  door  through 
which  we  can  enter  into  life,  or  receive  living  truths ; 
and  all  who  would  climb  up  any  other  way  are  thieves 
and  robbers.  Imagining  themselves  spiritual,  it  is 
possible  that  they  should  be  even  the  lowest  of  the 
sensual — for  they  may  only  give  to  their  sensuality 
wings,  by  which  it  may  gain  an  apparent  elevation, 
without  any  real  change  in  its  nature — superadding  to 


VU1  PREFACE. 

its  inherent  properties  that  of  monstrosity — becoming 
a  winged  serpent — the  monstrous  offspring  of  the  in- 
fernal influence  and  a  vain  imagination.  "  On  thy 
belly  shalt  thou  go,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat,  all  the 
days  of  thy  life,"  is  with  the  serpent  the  law  of  its 
nature ;  and  any  attempt  to  transcend  this  law  must 
rather  debase  than  elevate  it.  If  it  presume  to  raise 
itself  into  the  air,  and  live  on  the  nectar  of  flow- 
ers, its  real  quality  will  become  the  more  apparent 
and  disgusting — it  will  only  defile  what  can  afford  it 
no  nutriment,  and  all  the  birds  of  heaven  will  instinc- 
tively shun  its  company.  Let  every  one  know,  there- 
fore, that  his  real  faith  in  the  Sacred  Scripture  and 
humble  dependence  upon  it  for  life  and  light,  are  the 
only  measure  of  his  spirituality — that  whatever  seems 
to  abound  more  than  these,  is  nothing,  or  worse  than 
nothing.  Such  "  sons  of  the  morning  "  may  be  ex- 
pected in  these  latter  times — for  the  morning  has 
indeed  come,  and,  with  the  beginning  of  a  brighter 
day  than  the  world  has  yet  seen,  are  awakened  into 
life  forms  as  monstrous  as  those  of  the  dark  ages. 

S.  R. 

BOSTON,  Feb.  28,  1838. 


OBSERVATIONS 


GROWTH  OF   THE  MIND. 


NOTHING  is  a  more  common  subject  of 
remark  than  the  changed  condition  of  the 
world.  There  is  a  more  extensive  intercourse 
of  thought,  and  a  more  powerful  action  of 
mind  upon  mind,  than  formerly.  The  good 
and  the  wise  of  all  nations  are  brought  nearer 
together,  and  begin  to  exert  a  power,  which, 
though  yet  feeble  as  infancy,  is  felt  throughout 
the  globe.  Public  opinion,  that  helm  which 
directs  the  progress  of  events  by  which  the 
world  is  guided  to  its  ultimate  destination, 
has  received  a  new  direction.  The  mind  has 
attained  an  upward  and  onward  look,  and  is 
shaking  off  the  errors  and  prejudices  of  the 
past.  The  structure  of  the  feudal  ages,  the 
ornament  of  the  desert,  has  been  exposed  to 


10  GROWTH    OF    THE   MIND. 

the  light  of  heaven ;  and  continues  to  be  gazed 
at  for  its  ugliness,  as  it  ceases  to  be  admired 
for  its  antiquity.  The  world  is  deriving  vigor, 
not  from  that  which  has  gone  by,  but  from 
that  which  is  coming ;  not  from  the  unhealthy 
moisture  of  the  evening,  but  from  the  name- 
less influences  of  the  morning.  The  loud  call 
on  the  past  to  instruct  us,  as  it  falls  on  the 
Rock  of  Ages,  comes  back  in  echo  from  the 
future.  Both  mankind,  and  the  laws  and  prin- 
ciples by  which  they  are  governed,  seem  about 
to  be  redeemed  from  slavery.  The  moral  and 
intellectual  character  of  man  has  undergone, 
and  is  undergoing,  a  change;  and  as  this 
is  effected,  it  must  change  the  aspect  of  all 
things,  as  when  the  position-point  is  altered 
from  which  a  landscape  is  viewed.  We  ap- 
pear to  be  approaching  an  age  which  will  be 
the  silent  pause  of  merely  physical  force  before 
the  powers  of  the  mind ;  the  timid,  subdued, 
awed  condition  of  the  brute,  gazing  on  the 
erect  and  godlike  form  of  man. 

These  remarks  with  respect  to  the  present 
era  are  believed,  to  be  just,  when  it  is  viewed 
on  the  bright  side.  They  are  not  made  by  one 


GKOWTH  OF  THE  MIND.  11 

who  is  insensible  to  its  evils.  Least  of  all,  are 
they  intended  to  countenance  that  feeling  of 
self-admiration,  which  carries  with  it  the  seeds 
of  premature  disease  and  deformity ;  for  to  be 
proud  of  the  truth  is  to  cease  to  possess  it. 
Since  the  fall  of  man,  nothing  has  been  more 
difficult  for  him  than  to  know  his  real  con- 
dition, since  every  departure  from  divine  order 
is  attended  with  a  loss  of  the  knowledge  of 
what  it  is.  When  our  first  parents  left  the 
garden  of  Eden,  they  took  with  them  no  means 
by  which  they  might  measure  the  depths  of 
degradation  to  which  they  fell;  no  chart  by 
which  they  might  determine  their  moral  longi- 
tude. 

Most  of  our  knowledge  implies  relation  and 
comparison.  It  is  not  difficult  for  one  age,  or 
one  individual,  to  be  compared  with  another ; 
but  this  determines  only  their  relative  condi- 
tion. The  actual  condition  of  man  can  be 
seen  only  from  the  relation  in  which  he  stands 
to  his  immutable  Creator ;  and  this  relation  is 
discovered  from  the  light  of  revelation,  so  far 
as,  by  conforming  to  the  precepts  of  revelation, 
it  is  permitted  to  exist  according  to  the  laws 


12  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

of  divine  order.  It  is  not  sufficient  that  the 
letter  of  the  Bible  is  in  the  world.  This  may 
be,  and  still  mankind  continue  in  ignorance  of 
themselves.  It  must  be  obeyed  from  the  heart 
to  the  hand.  The  book  must  be  eaten,  and 
constitute  the  living  flesh.  When  only  the 
relative  condition  of  the  world  is  regarded,  we 
are  apt  to  exult  over  other  ages  and  other  men, 
as  if  we  ourselves  were  a  different  order  of 
beings,  till  at  length  we  are  enveloped  in  the 
very  mists  from  which  we  are  proud  of  being 
cleared.  But  when  the  relative  state  of  the 
world  is  justly  viewed  from  the  real  state  of 
the  individual,  the  scene  is  lighted  from  the 
point  of  the  beholder  with  the  chaste  light  of 
humility  which  never  deceives ;  it  is  not  for- 
gotten that  the  way  lies  forward ;  the  cries  of 
exultation  cease  to  be  heard  in  the  march  of 
progression,  and  the  mind,  in  whatever  it  learns 
of  the  past  and  the  present,  finds  food  for  im- 
provement, and  not  for  vainglory. 

As  all  the  changes  which  are  taking  place  in 
the  world  originate  in  the  mind,  it  might  be 
naturally  expected  that  nothing  would  change 
more  than  the  mind  itself,  and  whatever  is 


GROWTH   OP   THE   MIND.  13 

connected  with  a  description  of  it.  While 
men  have  been  speculating  concerning  their 
own  powers,  the  sure  but  secret  influence  of 
revelation  has  been  gradually  changing  the 
moral  and  intellectual  character  of  the  world, 
and  the  ground  on  which  they  were  standing 
has  passed  from  under  them,  almost  while 
their  words  were  in  their  mouths.  The  powers 
of  the  mind  are  most  intimately  connected 
with  the  subjects  by  which  they  are  occupied. 
We  cannot  think  of  the  will  without  feeling, 
of  the  understanding  without  thought,  or  of 
the  imagination  without  something  like  po- 
etry. The  mind  is  visible  when  it  is  active; 
and  as  the  subjects  on  which  it  is  engaged  are 
changed,  the  powers  themselves  present  a  dif- 
ferent aspect.  New  classifications  arise,  and 
new  names  are  given.  What  was  considered 
simple  is  thought  to  consist  of  distinct  parts, 
till  at  length  the  philosopher  hardly  knows 
whether  the  African  be  of  the  same  or  a  dif- 
ferent species;  and  though  the  soul  is  thought 
to  continue  after  death,  angels  are  universally 
considered  a  distinct  class  of  intellectual  be- 
ings. Thus  it  is  that  there  is  nothing  fixed  in 


14  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

the  philosophy  of  the  mind.  It  is  said  to  be 
a  science  which  is  not  demonstrative ;  and 
though  now  thought  to  be  brought  to  a 
state  of  great  perfection,  another  century,  un- 
der the  providence  of  God,  and  nothing  will 
be  found  in  the  structure  which  has  cost  so 
much  labor,  but  the  voice,  "  He  is  not  here, 
but  is  risen." 

Is,  then,  everything  that  relates  to  the  im- 
mortal part  of  man  fleeting  and  evanescent, 
while  the  laws  of  physical  nature  remain  unal- 
tered? Do  things  become  changeable  as  we 
approach  the  immutable  and  the  eternal  ? 
Far  otherwise.  The  laws  of  the  mind  are 
in  themselves  as  fixed  and  perfect  as  the  laws 
of  matter ;  but  they  are  laws  from  which  we 
have  wandered.  There  is  a  philosophy  of  the 
mind,  founded  not  on  the  aspect  it  presents  in 
any  part  or  in  any  period  of  the  world,  but 
on  its  immutable  relations  to  its  first  cause;  a 
philosophy  equally  applicable  to  man,  before 
or  after  he  has  passed  the  valley  of  the  shad- 
ow of  death ;  not  dependent  on  time  or  place, 
but  immortal  as  its  subject.  The  light  of  this 
philosophy  has  begun  to  beam  faintly  on  the 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  15 

world,  and  mankind  will  yet  see  their  own 
moral  and  intellectual  nature  by  the  light  of 
revelation,  as  it  shines  through  the  moral  and 
intellectual  character  it  shall  have  itself  cre- 
ated. It  may  be  remarked,  also,  that  the 
changes  in  the  sciences  and  the  arts  are  en- 
tirely the  effect  of  revelation.  To  revelation 
it  is  to  be  ascribed,  that  the  genius  which  has 
taught  the  laws  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
analyzed  the  material  world,  did  not  spend 
itself  in  drawing  the  bow  or  in  throwing  the 
lance,  in  the  chase  or  in  war;  and  that  the 
vast  powers  of  Handel  did  not  burst  forth  in 
the  wild  notes  of  the  war-song.  It  is  the  ten- 
dency of  revelation  to  give  a  right  direction  to 
every  power  of  every  mind ;  and  when  this  is 
effected,  inventions  and  discoveries  will  follow 
of  course,  all  things  assume  a  different  aspect, 
and  the  world  itself  again  becomes  a  paradise. 
It  is  the  object  of  the  following  pages  not  to 
be  influenced  by  views  of  a  temporal  or  local 
nature,  but  to  look  at  the  mind  as  far  as  pos- 
sible in  its  essential  revealed  character,  and 
beginning  with  its  powers  of  acquiring  and 
retaining  truth,  to  trace  summarily  that  devel- 


16  GKOWTH   OP  THE   MIND. 

opment  which  is  required,  in  order  to  render  it 
truly  useful  and  happy. 

It  is  said,  the  powers  of  acquiring  and  retain- 
ing truth,  because  truth  is  not  retained  without 
some  continued  exertion  of  the  same  powers 
by  which  it  is  acquired.  There  is  the  most 
intimate  connection  of  the  memory  with  the 
affections.  This  connection  is  obvious  from 
many  familiar  expressions  ;  such  as  remember 
me  to  any  one,  by  which  is  signified  a  desire  to 
be  borne  in  his  or  her  affections — do  not  forget 
me,  by  which  is  meant  do  not  cease  to  love  me 
— get  by  heart,  which  means  to  commit  to 
memory.  It  is  also  obvious  from  observation 
of  our  own  minds;  from  the  constant  recur- 
rence of  those  subjects  which  we  most  love, 
and  the  extreme  difficulty  of  detaching  our 
own  minds  or  the  minds  of  others  from  a 
favorite  pursuit.  It  is  obvious  from  the  power 
of  attention  on  which  the  memory  principally 
depends,  which,  if  the  subject  have  a  place  in 
our  affections,  requires  no  effort ;  if  it  have  not, 
the  effort  consists  principally  in  giving  it  a  real 
or  an  artificial  hold  of  our  feelings ;  as  it  is  pos- 
sible, if  we  do  not  love  a  subject,  to  attend  to 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  17 

it,  because  it  may  add  to  our  fame  or  our 
wealth.  It  is  obvious  from  the  never-fading 
freshness  retained  by  the  scenes  of  childhood, 
when  the  feelings  are  strong  and  vivid,  through 
the  later  periods  of  life.  As  the  old  man  looks 
back  on  the  road  of  his  pilgrimage,  many  years 
of  active  life  lie  unseen  in  the  valley,  as  his  eye 
rests  on  the  rising  ground  of  his  younger  days; 
presenting  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  human  mind,  when  revelation 
shall  have  accomplished  its  work,  shall  no 
longer  regard  the  scene  of  sin  and  misery  be- 
hind, but  having  completed  the  circle,  shall 
rest,  as  next  to  the  present  moment,  on  the 
golden  age,  the  infancy  of  the  world. 

The  connection  of  the  memory  with  the 
affections  is  also  obvious  from  the  association 
of  ideas  ;  since  the  train  of  thoughts  suggested 
by  any  scene  or  event  in  any  individual,  de- 
pends on  his  own  peculiar  and  prevailing  feel- 
ings ;  as  whatever  enters  into  the  animal  sys- 
tem, wherever  it  may  arise,  seems  first  to  be 
recognized  as  a  part  of  the  man,  when  it  has 
found  its  way  to  the  heart,  and  received  from 
that  its  impulse.  It  is  but  a  few  years,  (how 
2 


18  GROWTH    OF    THE    MIND. 

strange  to  tell !)  since  man  discovered  that  the 
blood  circulated  through  the  human  body.  We 
have,  perhaps,  hardly  learned  the  true  nature  of 
that  intellectual  circulation,  which  gives  life 
and  health  to  the  human  mind.  The  affections 
are  to  the  soul,  what  the  heart  is  to  the  body. 
They  send  forth  their  treasures  with  a  vigor  not 
less  powerful,  though  not  material,  throughout 
the  intellectual  man,  strengthening  and  nour- 
ishing; and  again  receive  those  treasures  to 
themselves,  enlarged  by  the  effect  of  their  own 
operation. 

Memory  is  the  effect  of  learning,  through 
whatever  avenue  it  may  have  entered  the  mind. 
It  is  said,  the  effect,  because  the  man  who  has 
read  a  volume,  and  can  perhaps  tell  you  noth- 
ing of  its  contents,  but  simply  express  his  own 
views  on  the  same  subject  with  more  clearness 
and  precision,  may  as  truly  be  said  to  have 
remembered,  as  he  that  can  repeat  the  very 
words.  In  the  one  case,  the  powers  of  the 
mind  have  received  a  new  tone ;  in  the  other, 
they  are  encumbered  with  a  useless  burden — 
in  the  one,  they  are  made  stronger;  in  the 
other,  they  are  more  oppressed  with  weight — 


GROWTH   OP   THE   MIND.  19 

in  the  one,  the  food  is  absorbed  and  becomes 
a  part  of  the  man;  in  the  other,  it  lies  on  the 
stomach  in  a  state  of  crude  indigestion. 

There  is  no  power  more  various  in  different 
individuals,  than  the  memory.  This  may  be 
ascribed  to  two  reasons.  First,  this  partakes 
of  every  power  of  the  mind,  since  every  mental 
exertion  is  a  subject  of  memory,  and  may 
therefore  be  said  to  indicate  all  the  difference 
that  actually  exists.  Secondly,  this  power 
varies  in  its  character  as  it  has  more  or  less  to 
do  with  time.  Simple  divine  truth  has  nothing 
to  do  with  time.  It  is  the  same  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  forever.  The  memory  of  this  is 
simply  the  development  of  the  mind.  But  we 
are  so  surrounded  by  facts  of  a  local  and  tem- 
poral nature ;  the  place  where,  and  the  time 
when,  make  so  great  a  part  of  what  is  presented 
to  our  consideration,  that  the  attribute  is  mis- 
taken for  the  subject;  and  this  power  some- 
times appears  to  have  exclusive  reference  to 
time,  though,  strictly  speaking,  it  has  no  rela- 
tion to  it.  There  is  a  power  of  growth  in  the 
spiritual  man,  and  if  in  his  progress  we  be  able 
to  mark,  as  in  the  grain  of  the  oak,  the  number 


20  GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND. 

of  the  years,  this  is  only  a  circumstance,  and 
all  that  is  gained  would  be  as  real  if  no  such 
lines  existed.  The  mind  ought  not  to  be  lim- 
ited by  the  short  period  of  its  own  duration  in 
the  body,  with  a  beginning  and  end  comprising 
a  few  years ;  it  should  be  poised  on  its  own 
immortality,  and  what  is  learned,  should  be 
learned  with  a  view  to  that  real  adaptation  of 
knowledge  to  the  mind  which  results  from  the 
harmony  of  creation ;  and  whenever  or  wher- 
ever we  exist,  it  will  be  useful  to  us. 

The  memory  has,  in  reality,  nothing  to  do 
with  time,  any  more  than  the  eye  has  with 
space.  As  the  latter  learns  by  experience  to 
measure  the  distance  of  objects,  so  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  present  existence  of  states  of 
mind,  is  referred  to  particular  periods  of  the 
past.  But  when  the  soul  has  entered  on  its 
eternal  state,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
past  and  the  future  will  be  swallowed  up  in 
the  present;  that  memory  and  anticipation 
will  be  lost  in  consciousness ;  that  everything 
of  the  past  will  be  comprehended  in  the  pres- 
ent, without  any  reference  to  time,  and  every- 
thing of  the  future  will  exist  in  the  divine  ef- 
fort of  progression. 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  21 

What  is  time  ?  There  is  perhaps  no  question 
that  would  suggest  such  a  variety  of  answers. 
It  is  represented  to  us  from  our  infancy  as  pro- 
ducing such  important  changes,  both  in  de- 
stroying some,  and  in  healing  the  wounds  it 
has  inflicted  on  others,  that  people  generally 
imagine,  if  not  an  actual  person,  it  is  at  least  a 
real  existence.  We  begin  with  time  in  the 
Primer,  and  end  with  reasoning  about  the  fore- 
knowledge of  God.  What  is  time  ?  The  diffi- 
culty of  answering  the  question,  (and  there  are 
few  questions  more  difficult,)  arises  principally 
from  our  having  ascribed  so  many  important 
effects  to  that  which  has  no  real  existence.  It 
is  true  that  all  things  in  the  natural  world  are 
subject  to  change.  But  however  these  changes 
may  be  connected  in  our  minds  with  time,  it 
requires  but  a  moment's  reflection  to  see  that 
time  has  no  agency  in  them.  They  are  the 
effects  of  chemical,  or  more  properly,  perhaps, 
of  natural  decompositions  and  reorganizations. 
Time,  or  rather  our  idea  of  it,  so  far  from  hav- 
ing produced  anything,  is  itself  the  effect  of 
changes.  There  are  certain  operations  in  na- 
ture, which,  depending  on  fixed  laws,  are  in 


22  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

themselves  perfectly  regular;  if  all  things  were 
equally  so,  the  question  how  long  ?  might 
never  be  asked.  We  should  never  speak  of  a 
late  season,  or  of  premature  old  age ;  but  every- 
thing passing  on  in  an  invariable  order,  all  the 
idea  of  time  that  would  remain  with  respect  to 
any  object,  would  be  a  sort  of  instinctive  sense 
of  its  condition,  its  progress  or  decay.  But 
most  of  the  phenomena  in  the  natural  world 
are  exceedingly  irregular ;  for  though  the  same 
combination  of  causes  would  invariably  pro- 
duce the  same  effect,  the  same  combination 
very  rarely  occurs.  Hence,  in  almost  every 
change,  and  we  are  conversant  with  nothing 
but  changes,  we  are  assisted  in  ascertaining  its 
nature  and  extent,  by  referring  it  to  something 
in  itself  perfectly  regular.  We  find  this  regu- 
larity in  the  apparent  motions  of  the  sun  and 
moon.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  how  much  our  idea 
of  time  is  the  effect  of  artificial  means  of  keep- 
ing it,  and  what  would  be  our  feelings  on  the 
subject,  if  left  to  the  simple  operations  of 
nature — but  they  would  probably  be  little  else 
than  a  reference  of  all  natural  phenomena  to 
that  on  which  they  principally  depend,  the 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  23 

relative  situation  of  the  sun  and  earth  ;  and  the 
idea  of  an  actual  succession  of  moments  would 
be,  in  a  measure,  resolved  into  that  of  cause 
and  effect. 

Eternity  is  to  the  mind  what  time  is  to  na- 
ture. We  attain  a  perception  of  it,  by  regard- 
ing all  the  operations  in  the  world  within  us, 
as  they  exist  in  relation  to  their  first  cause  ;  for 
in  doing  this,  they  are  seen  to  partake  some- 
what of  the  nature  of  that  Being  on  whom 
they  depend.  We  make  no  approaches  to  a 
conception  of  it,  by  heaping  day  upon  day  or 
year  upon  year.  This  is  merely  an  accumula- 
tion of  time ;  and  we  might  as  well  attempt  to 
convey  an  idea  of  mental  greatness  by  that  of 
actual  space,  as  to  communicate  a  conception 
of  eternity  by  years  or  thousands  of  years. 
Mind  and  matter  are  not  more  distinct  from 
each  other  than  their  properties ;  and  by  an 
attempt  to  embrace  all  time,  we  are  actually 
farther  from  an  approach  to  eternity  than  when 
we  confine  ourselves  to  a  single  instant ;  be- 
cause we  merely  collect  the  largest  possible 
amount  of  natural  changes,  whereas  that  which 
is  eternal  approaches  that  which  is  immutable. 


24  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

This  resembles  the  attempt  to  ascend  to  heaven 
by  means  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  in  which  they 
were  removed  by  their  pride  from  that  which 
they  would  have  approached,  precisely  in  pro- 
portion to  their  apparent  progress.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  conceive  of  either  time  or  space  without 
matter.  The  reason  is,  they  are  the  effect  of 
matter ;  and  as  it  is  by  creating  matter  that 
they  are  produced,  so  it  is  by  thinking  of  it 
that  they  are  conceived  of.  It  need  not  be 
said  how  exceedingly  improper  it  is  to  apply 
the  usual  ideas  of  time  and  space  to  the 
Divine  Being  ;  making  him  subject  to  that 
which  he  creates. 

Still  our  conceptions  of  time,  of  hours,  days, 
or  years,  are  among  the  most  vivid  we  possess, 
and  we  neither  wish  nor  find  it  easy  to  call 
them  in  question.  We  are  satisfied  with  the 
fact,  that  time  is  indicated  on  the  face  of  the 
watch,  without  seeking  for  it  among  the  wheels 
and  machinery.  But  what  is  the  idea  of  a 
year  ?  Every  natural  change  that  comes  under 
our  observation  leaves  a  corresponding  impres- 
sion on  the  mind  ;  and  the  sum  of  the  changes 
which  come  under  a  single  revolution  of  the 


GBOWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  25 

earth  round  the  sun,  conveys  the  impression  of 
a  year.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  our  idea  of 
a  year  is  continually  changing,  as  the  mind  be- 
comes conversant  with  different  objects,  and  is 
susceptible  of  different  impressions  ;  and  the 
days  of  the  old  man,  as  they  draw  near  their 
close,  seem  to  gather  rapidity  from  their  ap- 
proach to  the  other  world.  We  have  all  ex- 
perienced the  effect  of  pleasure  and  pain  in 
accelerating  and  retarding  the  passing  mo- 
ments ;  and  since  our  feelings  are  constantly 
changing,  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
they  constantly  produce  a  similar  effect,  though 
it  may  not  be  often  noticed.  The  divisions  of 
time,  then,  however  real  they  may  seem  to  be, 
and  however  well  they  may  serve  the  common 
purposes  of  conversation,  cannot  be  supposed 
to  convey  the  same  impression  to  any  two 
minds,  nor  to  any  one  mind  in  different  periods 
of  its  existence.  Indeed,  unless  this  were  the 
fact,  all  artificial  modes  of  keeping  it,  would  be 
unnecessary.  Time,  then,  is  nothing  real  so 
far  as  it  exists  in  our  own  minds. 

Nor  do  we  find  a  nearer  approach  to  reality 
by  any  analysis  of  nature.    Everything,  as  was 


26  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

said,  is  subject  to  change,  and  one  change  pre- 
pares the  way  for  another;  by  which  there  is 
growth  and  decay.  There  are  also  motions  of 
the  bodies,  both  in  nature  and  art,  which  in 
their  operation  observe  fixed  laws ;  and  here  we 
end.  The  more  we  enter  into  an  analysis  of 
things,  the  farther  are  we  from  finding  anything 
that  answers  to  the  distinctness  and  reality 
which  are  usually  attached  to  a  conception  of 
time,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  when 
this  distinctness  and  reality  are  most  deeply 
rooted,  (whatever  may  be  the  theory,)  they  are 
uniformly  attended  with  a  practical  belief  of 
the  actual  motion  of  the  sun,  and  are  indeed 
the  effect  of  it.  Let  us  then  continue  to  talk 
of  time,  as  we  talk  of  the  rising  and  setting  of 
the  sun ;  but  let  us  think  rather  of  those 
changes  in  their  origin  and  effect,  from  which 
a  sense  of  time  is  produced.  This  will  carry 
us  one  degree  nearer  the  actual  condition  of 
things  ;  it  will  admit  us  one  step  further  into 
the  temple  of  creation — no  longer  a  temple 
created  six  thousand  years  ago,  and  deserted 
by  him  who  formed  it;  but  a  temple  with  the 
hand  of  the  builder  resting  upon  it,  perpetually 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  27 

renewing,  perpetually  creating — and  as  we  bow 
ourselves  to  worship  the  "  I  AM,"  "  Him  who 
liveth  forever  and  ever,  who  created  heaven  and 
the  things  that  are  therein,  and  the  earth  and 
the  things  that  are  therein,  and  the  sea  and  the 
things  that  are  therein,"  we  may  hear  in  accents 
of  divine  love  the  voice  that  proclaims  "  that 
there  shall  be  time  no  longer." 

It  is  not  the  living  productions  of  nature,  by 
which  the  strongest  impression  of  time  is  pro- 
duced. The  oak,  over  which  may  have  passed 
a  hundred  years,  seems  to  drive  from  our  minds 
the  impression  of  time,  by  the  same  power  by 
which  it  supports  its  own  life,  and  resists  every 
tendency  to  decay.  It  is  that  which  is  de- 
*  cayed,  though  it  may  have  been  the  offspring 
of  an  hour ;  it  is  the  ruined  castle  mouldering 
into  dust ;  still  more,  if  the  contrast  be  strength- 
ened by  its  being  covered  with  the  living  pro- 
ductions of  nature  ;  it  is  the  half  consumed 
remains  of  some  animal  once  strong  and  vig- 
orous, the  discoveries  of  the  undertaker,  or  the 
filthy  relics  of  the  catacomb,  by  which  the 
strongest  impression  of  time  is  conveyed.  So 
it  is  with  the  possessions  of  the  mind.  It  is 


28  GROWTH   OP   THE  MIND. 

that  which  is  not  used,  which  seems  farthest 
in  the  memory,  and  which  is  held  by  the  most 
doubtful  tenure;  that  which  is  suffered  to 
waste  and  decay  because  it  wants  the  life  of 
our  own  affections  ;  that  which  we  are  about 
to  lose,  because  it  does  not  properly  belong  to 
us  :  whereas  that  truth,  which  is  applied  to  the 
use  and  service  of  mankind,  acquires  a  higher 
polish  the  more  it  is  thus  employed,  like  the 
angels  of  heaven,  who  forever  approximate  to 
a  state  of  perfect  youth,  beauty,  and  innocence. 
It  is  not  a  useless  task,  then,  to  remove  from 
our  minds  the  usual  ideas  of  time,  and  culti- 
vate a  memory  of  things.  It  is  to  leave  the 
mind  in  the  healthy,  vigorous,  and  active  pos- 
session of  all  its  attainments,  and  exercise  of 
all  its  powers ;  it  is  to  remove  from  it,  that  only 
which  contains  the  seeds  of  decay  and  putre- 
faction ;  to  separate  the  living  from  the  dead ; 
to  take  from  it  the  veil  by  which  it  would 
avoid  the  direct  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  pre- 
serve its  own  possessions  without  using  them. 
Truth,  all  truth  is  practical.  It  is  impossi- 
ble, from  its  nature  and  origin,  that  it  should 
be  otherwise.  Whether  its  effect  be  directly 


GROWTH    OF    THE   MIND.  29 

to  change  the  conduct,  or  it  simply  leave  an 
impression  on  the  heart,  it  is  in  the  strictest 
sense  practical.  It  should  rather  be  our  desire 
to  use  \vhat  we  learn,  than  to  remember  it. 
If  we  desire  to  use  it,  we  shall  remember  it 
of  course  ;  if  we  wish  merely  to  remember,  it 
is  possible  we  may  never  use  it.  It  is  the 
tendency  of  all  truth  to  effect  some  object. 
If  we  look  at  this  object,  it  will  form  a  dis- 
tinct and  permanent  image  on  the  mind ;  if 
we  look  merely  at  the  truth,  it  will  vanish 
away,  like  rays  of  light  falling  into  vacancy. 

Keeping  in  view  what  has  been  said  on  the 
subject  of  time,  then,  the  mind  is  presented  to 
us,  as  not  merely  active  in  the  acquirement 
of  truth,  but  active  in  its  possession.  The 
memory  is  the  fire  of  the  vestal  virgins,  send- 
ing forth  perpetual  light ;  not  the  grave  which 
preserves  simply  because  annihilation  is  im- 
possible. The  reservoir  of  knowledge  should 
be  seated  in  the  affections,  sending  forth  its 
influence  throughout  the  mind,  and  terminat- 
ing in  word  and  deed,  if  I  may  be  allowed 
the  expression,  merely  because  its  channels 
and  outlets  are  situated  below  the  watermark. 


30  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

There  prevails  a  most  erroneous  sentiment, 
that  the  mind  is  originally  vacant,  and  requires 
only  to  be  filled  up ;  and  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  that  this  opinion  is  most  intimately 
connected  with  false  conceptions  of  time. 
The  mind  is  originally  a  most  delicate  germ, 
whose  husk  is  the  body ;  planted  in  this 
world,  that  the  light  and  heat  of  heaven  may 
fall  upon  it  with  a  gentle  radiance,  and  call 
forth  its  energies.  The  process  of  learning 
is  not  by  synthesis  or  analysis.  It  is  the 
most  perfect  illustration  of  both.  As  sub- 
jects are  presented  to  the  operation  of  the 
mind,  they  are  decomposed  and  reorganized 
in  a  manner  peculiar  to  itself,  and  not  easily 
explained. 

Another  object  of  the  preceding  remarks 
upon  time  is,  that  we  may  be  impressed 
with  the  immediate  presence  and  agency  of 
God,  without  which  a  correct  understanding 
of  mind  or  matter  can  never  be  attained  ; 
that  we  may  be  able  to  read  on  every  pow- 
er of  the  mind,  and  on  every  particle  of 
matter,  the  language  of  our  Lord,  "  My 
Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work."  We 


GROWTH   OP  THE   MIND.  31 

usually  put  the  Divine  Being  to  an  immense 
distance,  by  supposing  that  the  world  was 
created  many  years  ago,  and  subject  to  cer- 
tain laws,  by  which  it  has  since  been  gov- 
erned. We  find  ourselves  capable  of  con- 
structing machines,  which  move  on  without 
our  assistance,  and  imagine  that  the  world 
was  constructed  in  the  same  way.  We 
forget  that  the  motions  of  our  machines  de- 
pend on  the  uniform  operation  of  what  we 
call  the  laws  of  nature ;  and  that  there  can 
be  nothing  beyond,  on  which  these  depend, 
unless  it  be  the  agency  of  that  Being  from 
whom  they  exist.  The  pendulum  of  the 
clock  continues  to  move  from  the  uniform 
operation  of  gravitation.  It  is  no  explana- 
tion, to  say  that  it  is  a  law  of  our  machi- 
nery that  the  pendulum  should  move.  We 
simply  place  things  in  a  situation  to  be 
acted  upon  by  an  all-pervading  power ;  but 
what  all-pervading  power  is  there  by  which 
gravitation  is  itself  produced,  unless  it  be 
the  power  of  God  ? 

The   tendency    of    bodies   to   the    earth,    is 
something  with   which    from    our    childhood 


32  GROWTH  Or  THE  MIND. 

we  have  been  so  familiar ;  something  which 
we  have  regarded  so  much  as  a  cause,  since, 
in  a  certain  sense,  it  is  the  cause  of  all  the 
motions  with  which  we  are  acquainted;  that 
it  is  not  agreeable  to  our  habits  of  thinking, 
to  look  at  it  as  an  effect.  Even  the  mo- 
tions of  the  heavenly  bodies  seem  complete- 
ly accounted  for,  by  simply  extending  to  these 
phenomena,  the  feelings  with  which  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  regard  the  tendency  of 
bodies  to  the  earth ;  whereas,  if  the  two 
things  were  communicated  at  the  same  pe- 
riod of  life,  they  would  appear  equally  won- 
derful. An  event  appears  to  be  explained, 
when  it  is  brought  within  the  pale  of  those 
youthful  feelings  and  associations,  which  in 
their  simplicity  do  not  ask  the  reason  of 
things.  There  is  formed  in  the  mind  of  the 
child,  from  his  most  familiar  observations, 
however  imperfect  they  may  be,  as  it  were 
a  little  nucleus,  which  serves  as  the  basis 
of  his  future  progress.  This  usually  com- 
prises a  large  proportion  of  those  natural 
appearances,  which  the  philosopher  in  later 
periods  of  life  finds  it  most  difficult  to  ex- 


GROWTH    OP   THE   MIND.  33 

plain.  The  child  grows  up  in  his  father's 
house  and  collects  and  arranges  the  most  fa- 
miliar operations  and  events.  Into  this  col- 
lection he  afterwards  receives  whatever  his- 
tory or  science  may  communicate,  and  still 
feels  at  home ;  a  feeling  with  which  won- 
der is  never  associated. 

This  is  not  altogether  as  it  should  be.  It 
is  natural  for  the  mature  mind  to  ask  the 
cause  of  things.  It  is  unsatisfied  when  it 
does  not  find  one,  and  can  hardly  exclude 
the  thought  of  that  Being,  from  whom  all 
things  exist.  When  therefore  we  have  gone 
beyond  the  circle  of  youthful  knowledge, 
and  found  a  phenomenon  in  nature,  which 
in  its  insulated  state  fills  us  with  the  ad- 
miration of  God  ;  let  us  beware  how  we 
quench  this  feeling.  Let  us  rather  transfer 
something  of  this  admiration  to  those  phe- 
nomena of  the  same  class,  which  have  not 
hitherto  directed  our  minds  beyond  the  fact 
of  their  actual  existence.  As  the  rnind  ex- 
tends the  boundaries  of  its  knowledge,  let 
a  holy  reference  to  God  descend  into  its 
youthful  treasures.  That  light  which  in  the 
3 


34  GROAVTH    OF   THE   MIND. 

distance  seemed  to  be  a  miraculous  blaze, 
as  it  falls  on  our  own  native  hills  may  still 
seem  divine,  but  will  not  surprise  us ;  and 
a  sense  of  the  constant  presence  of  God  will 
be  happily  blended  with  the  most  perfect 
freedom. 

Till  the  time  of  Newton,  the  motion  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  was  indeed  a  miracle.  It 
was  an  event  which  stood  alone,  and  was 
probably  regarded  with  peculiar  reference  to 
the  Divine  Being.  The  feeling  of  worship 
with  which  they  had  previously  been  regarded, 
had  subsided  into  a  feeling  of  wonder ;  till  at 
length  they  were  received  into  the  family  of 
our  most  familiar  associations.  There  is  one 
step  further.  It  is  to  regard  gravitation,  wher- 
ever it  may  be  found,  as  an  effect  of  the  con- 
stant agency  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  from  a 
consciousness  of  his  presence  and  cooperation 
in  every  step  we  take,  literally  "  to  walk  hum- 
bly with  our  God."  It  is  agreeable  to  the 
laws  of  moral  and  intellectual  progression,  that 
all  phenomena,  whether  of  matter  or  mind, 
should  become  gradually  classified  ;  till  at 
length  all  things,  wherever  they  are  found; 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  85 

all  events,  whether  of  history  or  experience, 
of  mind  or  matter;  shall  at  once  conspire  to 
form  one  stupendous  miracle,  and  cease  to 
be  such.  They  will  form  a  miracle  in  that 
they  are  seen  to  depend  constantly  and 
equally  on  the  power  of  the  Lord ;  and  they 
will  cease  to  be  a  miracle  in  that  the  power 
which  pervades  them,  is  so  constant,  so  uni- 
form, and  so  mild  in  its  operation,  that  it  pro- 
duces nothing  of  fear,  nothing  of  surprise. 
From  whatever  point  we  contemplate  the 
scene,  we  feel  that  we  are  still  in  our  Fath- 
er's house ;  go  where  we  will,  the  paternal 
roof,  the  broad  canopy  of  heaven,  is  extended 
over  us. 

It  is  agreeable  to  our  nature,  that  the  mind 
should  be  particularly  determined  to  one  ob- 
ject. The  eye  appears  to  be  the  point  at 
which  the  united  rays  of  the  sun  within  and 
the  sun  without,  converge  to  an  expression  of 
unity ;  and  accordingly  the  understanding  can 
be  conscious  of  but  one  idea  or  image  at  a 
time.  Still  there  is  another  and  a  different 
kind  of  consciousness  which  pervades  the 
mind,  which  is  coextensive  with  everything  it 


36  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

actually  possesses.  There  is  but  one  object 
in  nature  on  which  the  eye  looks  directly,  but 
the  whole  body  is  pervaded  with  nerves  which 
convey  perpetual  information  of  the  existence 
and  condition  of  every  part.  So  it  is  with 
the  possessions  of  the  mind ;  and  when  an 
object  ceases  to  be  the  subject  of  this  kind 
of  consciousness,  it  ceases  to  be  remembered. 
The  memory,  therefore,  as  was  said,  is  not  a 
dormant,  but  an  active  power.  It  is  rather 
the  possession  than  the  retention  of  truth.  It 
is  a  consciousness  of  the  will  ;  a  conscious- 
ness of  character  ;  a  consciousness  which  is 
produced  by  the  mind's  preserving  in  effort, 
whatever  it  actually  possesses.  It  is  the 
power  which  the  mind  has  of  preserving 
truth,  without  actually  making  it  the  sub- 
ject of  thought  ;  bearing  a  relation  to 
thought,  analogous  to  what  this  bears  to 
the  actual  perception  of  the  senses,  or  to 
language.  Thus  we  remember  a  distant  ob- 
ject without  actually  thinking  of  it,  in  the 
same  way  that  we  think  of  it,  without  actu- 
ally seeing  it. 

The  memory  is  not  limited,  because  to  the 


GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND.  37 

affections,  viewed  simply  as  such,  number  is 
not  applicable.  They  become  distinct  and 
are  classified,  when  connected  with  truths,  or, 
from  being  developed,  are  applied  to  their 
proper  objects.  Love  may  be  increased,  but 
not  multiplied.  A  man  may  feel  intensely, 
and  the  quantity  and  quality  of  his  feeling 
may  affect  the  character  of  his  thought,  but 
still  it  preserves  its  unity.  The  most  ardent 
love  is  not  attended  with  more  than  one  idea, 
but  on  the  contrary  has  a  tendency  to  confine 
the  mind  to  a  single  object.  Every  one  must 
have  remarked,  that  a  peculiar  state  of  feeling 
belongs  to  every  exercise  of  the  understand- 
ing ;  unless  somewhat  of  this  feeling  remained 
after  the  thought  had  passed  away,  there 
would  be  nothing  whereby  the  latter  could 
be  recalled.  The  impression  thus  left,  exists 
continually  in  the  mind;  though,  as  different 
objects  engage  the  attention,  it  may  become 
less  vivid.  These  impressions  go  to  comprise 
the  character  of  an  individual  ;  especially 
when  they  have  acquired  a  reality  and  fix- 
edness, in  consequence  of  the  feelings  in 
which  they  originated,  having  resulted  in  the 


38  GROWTH   OF   TEE  MIND. 

actions  to  which  they  tend.  They  enter  into 
every  subject  about  which  we  are  thinking, 
and  the  particular  modification  they  receive 
from  that  subject  gives  them  the  appearance 
of  individuality  ;  while  they  leave  on  the 
subject  itself,  the  image  of  that  character 
which  they  constitute. 

When  a  man  has  become  acquainted  with 
any  science,  that  state  of  the  affections  which 
properly  belongs  to  this  science,  (whatever  di- 
rection his  mind  may  take  afterwards,)  still 
maintains  a  certain  influence;  and  this  influ- 
ence is  the  creative  power  by  which  his  knowl- 
edge on  the  subject  is  reproduced.  Such  im- 
pressions are  to  the  mind,  what  logarithms 
are  in  numbers;  preserving  our  knowledge  in 
its  fulness  indeed,  but  before  it  has  expanded 
into  an  infinite  variety  of  thoughts.  Brown 
remarks,  "  We  will  the  existence  of  certain 
ideas,  it  is  said,  and  they  arise  in  consequence 
of  our  volition ;  though  assuredly  to  will  any 
idea  is  to  know  that  we  will,  and  therefore 
to  be  conscious  of  that  very  idea,  which  we 
surely  need  not  desire  to  know,  when  we  al- 
ready know  it  so  well  as  to  will  its  actual 


GROWTH    OF   THE   MIND.  39 

existence."  The  author  does  not  discriminate 
between  looking  at  an  object  and  thence  desir- 
ing it,  and  simply  that  condition  of  feeling  be- 
tween which  and  certain  thoughts  there  is  an 
established  relation,  so  that  the  former  cannot 
exist  to  any  considerable  degree  without  pro- 
ducing the  latter.  Of  this  exertion  of  the  will, 
every  one  must  have  been  conscious  in  his 
efforts  of  recollection.  Of  this  exertion  of  the 
will,  the  priest  must  be  conscious,  when,  (if 
he  be  sincere,)  by  the  simple  prostration  of 
his  heart  before  his  Maker,  his  mind  is  crowd- 
ed with  the  thoughts  and  language  of  prayer. 
Of  this  exertion  of  the  will,  the  poet  must  be 
conscious,  when  he  makes  bare  his  bosom  for 
the  reception  of  nature,  and  presents  her 
breathing  with  his  own  life  and  soul.  But 
it  is  needless  to  illustrate  that  of  which  every 
one  must  be  sensible. 

It  follows  from  these  views  of  the  subject, 
that  the  true  way  to  store  the  memory  is  to 
develop  the  affections.  The  mind  must  grow, 
not  from  external  accretion,  but  from  an  in- 
ternal principle.  Much  may  be  done  by  oth- 
ers in  aid  of  its  development;  but  in  all  that 


40  GROWTH    OP   THE   MIND. 

is  done  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that,  even 
from  its  earliest  infancy,  it  possesses  a  charac- 
ter and  a  principle  of  freedom,  which  should 
be  respected,  and  cannot  be  destroyed.  Its 
peculiar  propensities  may  be  discerned,  and 
proper  nutriment  and  culture  supplied  ;  but 
the  infant  plant,  not  less  than  the  aged  tree, 
must  be  permitted,  with  its  own  organs  of 
absorption,  to  separate  that  which  is  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  itself;  otherwise  it  will  be 
cast  off  as  a  foreign  substance,  or  produce 
nothing  but  rottenness  and  deformity. 

The  science  of  the  mind  itself  will  be  the 
effect  of  its  own  development.  This  is  merely 
an  attendant  consciousness,  which  the  mind 
possesses,  of  the  growth  of  its  own  powers; 
and  therefore,  it  would  seem,  need  not  be 
made  a  distinct  object  of  study.  Thus  the 
power  of  reason  may  be  imperceptibly  devel- 
oped by  the  study  of  the  demonstrative  sci- 
ences. As  it  is  developed,  the  pupil  becomes 
conscious  of  its  existence  and  its  use.  This 
is  enough.  He  can  in  fact  learn  nothing  more 
on  the  subject.  If  he  learns  to  use  his  reason, 
what  more  is  desired  ?  Surely  it  were  useless, 


GROWTH    OF   THE   MIND.  41 

and  worse  than  useless,  to  shut  up  the  door  of 
the  senses,  and  live  in  indolent  and  laborious 
contemplation  of  one's  own  powers  ;  when,  if 
anything  is  learned  truly,  it  must  be  what 
these  powers  are,  and  therefore  that  they  ought 
not  to  be  thus  employed.  The  best  affections 
we  possess  will  find  their  home  in  the  objects 
around  us,  and,  as  it  were,  enter  into  and  ani- 
mate the  whole  rational,  animal,  and  vegeta- 
ble world.  If  the  eye  were  turned  inward  to 
a  direct  contemplation  of  these  affections,  it 
would  find  them  bereft  of  all  their  loveliness ; 
for  when  they  are  active,  it  is  not  of  them  we 
are  thinking,  but  of  the  objects  on  which  they 
rest.  The  science  of  the  mind,  then,  will  be 
the  effect  of  all  the  other  sciences.  Can  the 
child  grow  up  in  active  usefulness,  and  not  be 
conscious  of  the  possession  and  use  of  his  own 
limbs  ?  The  body  and  the  mind  should  grow 
together,  and  form  the  sound  and  perfect  man, 
whose  understanding  may  be  almost  measured 
by  his  stature.  The  mind  will  see  itself  in 
what  it  loves  and  is  able  to  accomplish.  Its 
own  works  will  be  its  mirror ;  and  when  it  is 
present  in  the  natural  world,  feeling  the  same 


42  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

spirit  which  gives  life  to  every  object  by  which 
it  is  surrounded,  in  its  very  union  with  nature 
it  will  catch  a  glimpse  of  itself,  like  that  of 
pristine  beauty  united  with  innocence,  at  her 
own  native  fountain. 

What  then  is  that  development  which  the 
nature  of  the  human  mind  requires  ?  What  is 
that  education  which  has  heaven  for  its  object, 
and  such  a  heaven  as  will  be  the  effect  of  the 
orderly  growth  of  the  spiritual  man  ? 

As  all  minds  possess  that  in  common  which 
makes  them  human,  they  require  to  a  certain 
extent  the  same  general  development,  by  which 
will  be  brought  to  view  the  same  powers,  how- 
ever distinct  and  varied  they  may  be  found  in 
different  individuals;  and  as  every  mind  pos- 
sesses something  peculiar,  to  which  it  owes  its 
character  and  its  effect,  it  requires  a  particular 
development  by  which  may  be  produced  a  full, 
sincere,  and  humble  expression  of  its  natural 
features,  and  the  most  vigorous  and  efficient 
exertion  of  its  natural  powers.  These  make 
one,  so  far  as  regards  the  individual. 

Those  sciences  which  exist  embodied  in  the 
natural  world,  appear  to  have  been  designed  to 


GROWTH    OF   THE   MIND.  43 

occupy  the  first  place  in  the  development  of  all 
minds,  or  in  that  which  might  be  called  the 
general  development  of  the  mind.  These  com- 
prise the  laws  of  the  animal,  vegetable,  and 
mineral  kingdoms.  The  human  mind,  being 
as  it  were  planted  in  nature  by  its  heavenly 
Father,  was  designed  to  enter  into  matter, 
and  detect  knowledge,  for  its  own  purposes  of 
growth  and  nutrition.  This  gives  us  a  true 
idea  of  memory,  or  rather  of  what  memory 
should  be.  We  no  longer  think  of  a  truth  as 
being  laid  up  in  a  mind  for  which  it  has  no 
affinity,  and  by  which  it  is  perhaps  never  to  be 
used ;  but  the  latent  affections,  as  they  expand 
under  proper  culture,  absolutely  require  the 
truth  to  receive  them,  and  its  first  use  is  the 
very  nutriment  it  affords.  It  is  not  more  diffi- 
cult for  the  tree  to  return  to  the  seed  from 
which  it  sprung,  than  for  the  man  who  has 
learned  thus,  to  cease  to  remember.  The  nat- 
ural sciences  are  the  basis  of  all  useful  knowl- 
edge, alike  important  to  man  in  whatever  time, 
place,  or  condition  he  is  found.  They  are 
coeval  with  our  race,  and  must  continue  so 
long  as  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  endure.  Be- 


44  GROWTH   OP   THE   MIND. 

fore  there  were  facts  for  the  pen  of  history  to 
record,  or  vices  for  the  arm  of  law  to  restrain, 
or  nations  for  the  exhibition  of  institutions  for 
the  government  of  themselves  and  intercourse 
with  each  other,  at  the  very  creation,  these 
were  pronounced  good  in  the  general  benedic- 
tion ;  and  when  history  shall  have  finished  her 
tale  of  sin  and  woe,  and  law  shall  have  pun- 
ished her  millions  of  offenders,  and  civil  society 
shall  have  assumed  every  possible  form,  they 
will  remain  the  same  as  when  presented  in 
living  characters  to  the  first  parents  of  the 
human  race. 

Natural  philosophy  seems  almost  essential 
to  an  enlightened  independence  of  thought  and 
action.  A  man  may  lean  upon  others,  and  be 
so  well  supported  by  an  equal  pressure  in  all 
directions,  as  to  be  apparently  dependent  on 
no  one ;  but  his  independence  is  apt  to  degen- 
erate into  obstinacy,  or  betray  itself  in  weak- 
ness, unless  his  mind  is  fixed  on  this  unchang- 
ing basis.  A  knowledge  of  the  world  may  give 
currency  to  his  sentiments,  and  plausibility  to 
his  manners ;  but  it  is  more  frequently  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  world  that  gives  light  to  the  path, 


GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND.  45 

and  stability  to  the  purposes.  By  the  one  he 
may  learn  what  coin  is  current,  by  the  other 
what  possesses  intrinsic  value.  The  natural 
world  was  precisely  and  perfectly  adapted  to 
invigorate  and  strengthen  the  intellectual  and 
moral  man.  Its  first  and  highest  use  was  not 
to  support  the  vegetables  which  adorn,  or  the 
animals  which  cover,  its  surface ;  nor  yet  to 
give  sustenance  to  the  human  body  ; — it  has  a 
higher  and  holier  object,  in  the  attainment  of 
which  these  are  only  means.  It  was  intended 
to  draw  forth  and  mature  the  latent  energies 
of  the  soul ;  to  impart  to  them  its  own  verdure 
and  freshness;  to  initiate  them  into  its  own 
mysteries  ;  and  by  its  silent  and  humble  de- 
pendence on  its  Creator,  to  leave  on  them, 
when  it  is  withdrawn  by  death,  the  full  im- 
pression of  his  likeness. 

It  was  the  design  of  Providence,  that  the 
infant  mind  should  possess  the  germ  of  every 
science.  If  it  were  not  so,  they  could  hardly 
be  learned.  The  care  of  God  provides  for  the 
flower  of  the  field  a  place  wherein  it  may  grow, 
regale  with  its  fragrance,  and  delight  with  its 
beauty.  Is  his  providence  less  active  over 


46  GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND. 

those  to  whom  this  flower  offers  its  incense? 
No.  The  soil  which  produces  the  vine  in  its 
most  healthy  luxuriance  is  not  better  adapted 
to  the  end,  than  the  world  we  inhabit  to  draw 
forth  the  latent  energies  of  the  soul,  and  fill 
them  with  life  and  vigor.  As  well  might  the 
eye  see  without  light,  or  the  ear  hear  without 
sound,  as  the  human  mind  be  healthy  and  ath- 
letic without  descending  into  the  natural  world 
and  breathing  the  mountain  air.  Is  there  aught 
in  eloquence,  which  warms  the  heart  ?  She 
draws  her  fire  from  natural  imagery.  Is  there 
aught  in  poetry,  to  enliven  the  imagination? 
There  is  the  secret  of  all  her  power.  Is  there 
aught  in  science  to  add  strength  and  dignity  to 
the  human  mind  ?  The  natural  world  is  only 
the  body,  of  which  she  is  the  soul.  In  books, 
science  is  presented  to  the  eye  of  the  pupil,  as 
it  were  in  a  dried  and  preserved  state ;  the 
time  may  come  when  the  instructor  will  take 
him  by  the  hand,  and  lead  him  by  the  running 
streams,  and  teach  him  all  the  principles  of 
science  as  she  comes  from  her  Maker,  as  he 
would  smell  the  fragrance  of  the  rose  without 
gathering  it. 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  47 

This  love  of  nature,  this  adaptation  of  man 
to  the  place  assigned  him  by  his  heavenly 
Father,  this  fulness  of  the  mind  as  it  descends 
into  the  works  of  God,  is  something  which  has 
been  felt  by  every  one,  though  to  an  imperfect 
degree ;  and  therefore  needs  no  explanation. 
It  is  the  part  of  science,  that  this  be  no  longer 
a  blind  affection  ;  but  that  the  mind  be  opened 
to  a  just  perception  of  what  it  is  which  it 
loves.  The  affection  which  the  lover  first  feels 
for  his  future  wife,  may  be  attended  only  by  a 
general  sense  of  her  external  beauty;  but  his 
mind  gradually  opens  to  a  perception  of  the 
peculiar  features  of  the  soul,  of  which  the  ex- 
ternal appearance  is  only  an  image.  So  it  is 
with  nature.  Do  we  love  to  gaze  on  the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  stars,  and  the  planets  ?  This  af- 
fection contains  in  its  bosom  the  whole  science 
of  astronomy,  as  the  seed  contains  the  future 
tree.  It  is  the  office  of  the  instructor  to  give 
it  an  existence  and  a  name,  by  making  known 
the  laws  which  govern  the  motions  of  the  heav- 
enly bodies,  the  relation  of  these  bodies  to  each 
other,  and  their  uses.  Have  we  felt  delight  in 
beholding  the  animal  creation,  in  watching 


48  GROWTH   OF   THE    MIND. 

their  pastimes  and  their  labors  ?  It  is  the  office 
of  the  instructor  to  give  birth  to  this  affection, 
by  teaching  the  different  classes  of  animals, 
with  their  peculiar  characteristics,  which  in- 
habit the  earth,  air,  and  sea.  Have  we  known 
the  inexpressible  pleasure  of  beholding  the 
beauties  of  the  vegetable  world  ?  This  affec- 
tion can  only  expand  in  the  science  of  botany. 
Thus  it  is  that  the  love  of  nature  in  the  mass, 
may  become  the  love  of  all  the  sciences,  and 
the  mind  will  grow  and  bring  forth  fruit  from 
its  own  inherent  power  of  development.  Thus 
it  is  that  memory  refers  to  the  growth  and  ex- 
pansion of  the  mind ;  and  what  is  thus,  as  it 
were,  incorporated  into  its  substance,  can  be 
forgotten  only  by  a  change  in  the  direction  of 
the  affections,  or  the  course  of  conduct  of  the 
individual  analogous  to  that  in  his  physical 
man,  by  which  his  very  flesh  and  bones  are 
exchanged  for  those  of  a  different  texture  ;  nor 
does  he  then  entirely  cease  to  remember,  in- 
asmuch as  he  preserves  a  sense  of  his  own 
identity. 

It  is  in  this  way  the  continual  endeavor  of 
Providence,  that  the  natural  sciences  should 


GROWTH    OF   THE   MIND.  49 

be  the  spontaneous  production  of  the  human 
mind.  To  these  should  certainly  be  added, 
poetry  and  music ;  for  when  we  study  the 
works  of  God  as  we  should,  we  cannot  dis- 
regard that  inherent  beauty  and  harmony  in 
which  these  arts  originate.  These  occasion 
in  the  mind  its  first  glow  of  delight,  like  the 
taste  of  food,  as  it  is  offered  to  the  mouth ; 
and  the  pleasure  they  afford,  is  a  pledge  of  the 
strength  and  manhood  afterwards  imparted  by 
the  sciences. 

By  poetry  is  meant  all  those  illustrations  of 
truth  by  natural  imagery,  which  spring  from 
the  fact,  that  this  world  is  the  mirror  of  Him 
who  made  it.  Strictly  speaking,  nothing  has 
less  to  do  with  fiction  than  poetry.  The  day 
will  come,  and  it  may  not  be  far  distant,  when 
this  art  will  have  another  test  of  merit  than 
mere  versification,  or  the  invention  of  strange 
stories  ;  when  the  laws  by  which  poetry  is 
tested  will  be  as  fixed  and  immutable  as  the 
laws  of  science  ;  when  a  change  will  be  intro- 
duced into  taste  corresponding  to  that  which 
Bacon  introduced  into  philosophy,  by  which 
both  will  be  confined  within  the  limits  of 
4 


50  GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND. 

things  as  they  actually  exist.  It  would  seem 
that  genius  would  be  cramped ;  that  the  pow- 
ers of  invention  would  be  destroyed ;  by  con- 
fining the  human  mind,  as  it  were,  at  home, 
within  the  bounds  which  nature  has  assigned. 
But  what  wider  scope  need  it  have  ?  It  reaches 
the  throne  of  God ;  it  rests  on  his  footstool. 
All  things  spiritual  and  natural  are  before  it. 
There  is  as  much  that  is  true  as  false;  and 
truth  presented  in  natural  imagery,  is  only 
dressed  in  the  garments  which  God  has  given 
it. 

The  imagination  was  permitted  for  ages 
to  involve  the  world  in  darkness,  by  putting 
theory  in  the  place  of  fact;  till  at  length  the 
greatest  man  revealed  the  simplest  truth,  that 
our  researches  must  be  governed  by  actual 
observation.  God  is  the  source  of  all  truth. 
Creation  (and  what  truth  does  not  result  from 
creation  ? )  is  the  effect  of  the  Divine  Love 
and  Wisdom.  Simply  to  will  and  to  think, 
with  the  Divine  Being,  result  in  creating  ;  in 
actually  producing  those  realities,  which  form 
the  groundwork  of  the  thoughts  and  affections 
of  man.  But  for  the  philosopher  to  desire  a 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  51 

thing,  and  to  think  that  it  existed,  produced 
nothing  but  his  own  theory.  Hence  it  was 
necessary  that  he  should  bring  his  mind  into 
coincidence  with  things  as  they  exist,  or,  in 
other  words,  with  the  truth. 

Fiction  in  poetry  must  fall  with  theory  in 
science,  for  they  depend  equally  on  the  works 
of  creation.  The  word  fiction,  however,  is 
not  intended  to  be  used  in  its  most  literal 
sense ;  but  to  embrace  whatever  is  not  in 
exact  agreement  with  the  creative  spirit  of 
God.  It  belongs  to  the  true  poet  to  feel 
this  spirit,  and  to  be  governed  by  it ;  to  be 
raised  above  the  senses ;  to  live  and  breathe 
in  the  inward  efforts  of  things ;  to  feel  the 
power  of  creation,  even  before  he  sees  the 
effect;  to  witness  the  innocence  and  smiles 
of  nature's  infancy,  not  by  extending  the 
imagination  back  to  chaos,  but  by  raising 
the  soul  to  nature's  origin.  The  true  poetic 
spirit,  so  far  from  misleading  any,  is  the 
strongest  bulwark  against  deception.  It  is 
the  soul  of  science.  Without  it,  the  latter 
is  a  cheerless,  heartless  study,  distrusting 
even  the  presence  and  power  of  Him  to 


52  GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND. 

whom  it  owes  its  existence.  Of  all  the 
poetry  which  exists,  that  only  possesses  the 
seal  of  immortality,  which  presents  the  im- 
age of  God  which  is  stamped  on  nature. 
Could  the  poetry  which  now  prevails  be 
viewed  from  the  future,  when  all  partialities 
and  antipathies  shall  have  passed  away,  and 
things  are  left  to  rest  on  their  own  founda- 
tions ;  when  good  works  shall  have  dwindled 
into  insignificance,  from  the  mass  of  useless 
matter  that  may  have  fallen  from  them,  and 
bad  ones  shall  have  ceased  to  allure  with 
false  beauty ;  we  might  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  rudiments  of  this  divine  art,  amid  the 
weight  of  extraneous  matter  by  which  it  is 
now  protected,  and  which  it  is  destined  to 
throw  off.  The  imagination  will  be  refined 
into  a  chaste  and  sober  view  of  unveiled  na- 
ture. It  will  be  confined  within  the  bounds 
of  reality.  It  will  no  longer  lead  the  way 
to  insanity  and  madness,  by  transcending  the 
works  of  creation,  and,  as  it  were,  wander- 
ing where  God  has  no  power  to  protect  it ; 
but  finding  a  resting-place  in  every  created 
object,  it  will  enter  into  it  and  explore  its 


GROWTH  .OF   THE  MIND.  53 

hidden  treasures,  the  relation  in  which  it 
stands  to  mind,  and  reveal  the  love  it  bears 
to  its  Creator. 

The  state  of  poetry  has  always  indicated 
the  state  of  science  and  religion.  The  gods 
are  hardly  missed  more,  when  removed  from 
the  temples  of  the  ancients,  than  they  are 
when  taken  from  their  poetry  ;  or  than  the- 
ory is,  when  taken  from  their  philosophy. 
Fiction  ceases  to  be  pleasing  when  it  ceases 
to  gain  credence ;  and  what  they  admired 
in  itself,  commands  much  of  its  admiration 
now,  as  a  relic  of  antiquity.  The  painting 
which  in  a  darkened  room  only  impressed 
us  with  the  reality,  as  the  sun  rises  upon 
it  discovers  the  marks  of  the  pencil  ;  and 
that  shade  of  the  mind  can  never  again  re- 
turn, which  gave  to  ancient  poetry  its  viv- 
idness and  its  power.  Of  this  we  may  be 
sensible,  by  only  considering  how  entirely 
powerless  it  would  be,  if  poetry  in  all  re- 
spects similar,  were  produced  at  the  present 
day.  A  man's  religious  sentiments,  and  his 
knowledge  of  the  sciences,  are  so  entirely 
interwoven  with  all  his  associations  ;  they 


54  GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND. 

shed  such  light  throughout  every  region  of 
the  mind,  that  nothing  can  please  which  is 
directly  opposed  to  them ; — and  though  the 
forms  which  poetry  may  offer  may  sometimes 
be  presented  where  this  light  begins  to  sink 
into  obscurity,  they  should  serve,  like  the 
sky  and  the  clouds,  as  a  relief  to  the  eye, 
and  not,  like  some  unnatural  body  protrud- 
ing on  the  horizon,  disturb  the  quiet  they 
are  intended  to  produce.  When  there  shall 
be  a  religion  which  shall  see  God  in  every- 
thing, and  at  all  times;  and  the  natural  sci- 
ences, not  less  than  nature  itself,  shall  be 
regarded  in  connection  with  Him  ;  the  fire 
of  poetry  will  begin  to  be  kindled  in  its  im- 
mortal part,  and  will  burn  without  consum- 
ing. The  inspiration  so  often  feigned,  will 
become  real,  and  the  mind  of  the  poet  will 
feel  the  spark  which  passes  from  God  to 
nature.  The  veil  will  be  withdrawn,  and 
beauty  and  innocence  displayed  to  the  eye  ; 
for  which  the  lasciviousness  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  the  wantonness  of  desire  may  seek 
in  vain. 

There  is  a  language  not  of  words,  but  of 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  55 

things.  When  this  language  shall  have  been 
made  apparent,  that  which  is  human  will 
have  answered  its  end ;  and  being  as  it  were 
resolved  into  its  original  elements,  will  lose 
itself  in  nature.  The  use  of  language  is 
the  expression  of  our  feelings  and  desires — 
the  manifestation  of  the  mind.  But  every- 
thing which  fs,  whether  animal  or  vegeta- 
ble, is  full  of  the  expression  of  that  use  for 
which  it  is  designed,  as  of  its  own  existence. 
If  we  did  but  understand  its  language,  what 
could  our  words  add  to  its  meaning  ?  It  is 
because  we  are  unwilling  to  hear,  that  we 
find  it  necessary  to  say  so  much  ;  and  we 
drown  the  voice  of  nature  with  the  discor- 
dant jargon  of  ten  thousand  dialects.  Let  a 
man's  language  be  confined  to  the  expres- 
sion of  that  which  actually  belongs  to  his 
own  mind  ;  and  let  him  respect  the  smallest 
blade  which  grows,  and  permit  it  to  speak 
for  itself.  Then  may  there  be  poetry,  which 
may  not  be  written  perhap?,  but  which  may 
be  felt  as  a  part  of  our  being. 

Everything  which  surrounds  us    is  full   of 
the    utterance    of    one  word,    completely  ex- 


56  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

pressive  of  its  nature.  This  word  is  its 
name  ;  for  God,  even  now,  could  we  but 
see  it,  is  creating  all  things,  and  giving  a 
name  to  every  work  of  his  love,  in  its  per- 
fect adaptation  to  that  for  which  it  is  de- 
signed. But  man  has  abused  his  power,  and 
has  become  insensible  to  the  real  character 
of  the  brute  creation  ;  still  more  so  to  that 
of  inanimate  nature,  because,  in  his  selfish- 
ness, he  is  disposed  to  reduce  them  to  sla- 
very. Therefore  he  is  deaf.  We  find  the 
animal  world  either  in  a  state  of  savage 
wildness,  or  enslaved  submission.  It  is  possi- 
ble, that,  as  the  character  of  man  is  changed, 
they  may  attain  a  midway  condition  equally 
removed  from  both.  As  the  mind  of  man 
acknowledges  its  dependence  on  the  Divine 
Mind,  brutes  may  add  to  their  instinct  sub- 
mission to  human  reason  ;  preserving  an  un- 
broken chain  from  our  Father  in  heaven,  to 
the  most  inanimate  parts  of  creation.  Such 
may  be  supposed  to  have  been  the  condition 
of  the  animal  on  which  the  King  of  Zion 
rode  into  Jerusalem  ;  at  once  free  and  sub- 
ject to  the  will  of  the  rider.  Everything  will 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  57 

seem  to  be  conscious  of  its  use  ;  and  man 
will  become  conscious  of  the  use  of  every- 
thing. 

By  music  is  meant  not  merely  that  which 
exists  in  the  rational  world,  whether  in  the 
song  of  angels  or  men  ;  not  merely  the  sing- 
ing of  birds  and  the  lowing  of  cattle,  by 
which  the  animal  world  express  their  affec- 
tions and  their  wants — but  that  harmony 
which  pervades  also  all  orders  of  creation ; 
the  music  of  the  harp  of  universal  nature, 
which  is  touched  by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and 
whose  song  is  the  morning,  the  evening  and 
the  seasons.  Music  is  the  voice  of  God,  and 
poetry  his  language,  both  in  his  Word  and 
works.  The  one  is  to  the  ear,  what  the 
other  is  to  the  eye.  Every  child  of  nature 
must  feel  their  influence.  There  was  a  time, 
when  the  human  mind  was  in  more  perfect 
harmony  with  the  Divine  Mind,  than  the 
lower  orders  of  creation ;  and  the  tale  of  the 
harp  of  Orpheus,  to  which  the  brutes,  the 
vegetables,  and  the  rocks  listened,  is  not  al- 
together unfounded  in  reality ;  but  when  the 
selfish  and  worldly  passions  usurped  the 


58  GKOWTH   OF  THE   MIND. 

place  of  love  to  our  God  and  our  neighbor, 
the  mind  of  man  began  to  be  mute  in  its 
praise.  The  original  order  was  reversed. 
The  very  stones  cry  out,  and  we  do  well  to 
listen  to  them. 

There  is  a  most  intimate  and  almost 
inseparable  connection  between  poetry  and 
music.  This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
they  are  always  united.  Nothing  is  sung 
which  has  not  some  pretensions  to  poetry  ; 
and  nothing  has  any  pretensions  to  poetry 
in  which  there  is  not  something  of  music. 
A  good  ear  is  essential  to  rhythm  ;  and 
rhythm  is  essential  to  verse.  It  is  the  per- 
fection of  poetry,  that  it  addresses  two 
senses  at  once,  the  ear  and  the  eye  ;  that  it 
prepares  the  affections  for  the  object  before 
it  is  presented ;  that  it  sends  light  through 
the  understanding,  by  forming  a  communi- 
cation between  the  heart  of  man  and  the 
works  of  God. 

The  character  of  music  must  have  always 
harmonized  with  that  of  poetry.  It  is  essen- 
tial to  the  former  that  it  should  be  in  agree- 
ment with  our  feelings ;  for  it  is  from  this 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  59 

circumstance  that  it  derives  its  power.  That 
music  which  is  in  unison  with  the  Divine 
Mind,  alone  deserves  the  name.  So  various 
is  it  found  in  the  different  conditions  of 
man,  that  it  is  hardly  recognized  as  the 
same  thing.  There  is  music  in  the  war- 
song  of  the  savage,  and  in  the  sound  for 
battle.  Alas !  how  unlike  that  music,  which 
proclaimed  peace  on  earth  and  good  will 
towards  men.  Poetry  and  music,  like  virtu- 
ous females  in  disguise,  have  followed  our 
race  into  the  darkest  scenes  to  which  the 
fall  has  brought  them.  We  find  them  in 
the  haunts  of  dissipation  and  vice  ;  in  the 
song  of  revelry  and  lewdness.  We  meet 
them  again,  kindling  the  fire  of  devotion  at 
the  altar  of  God ;  and  find  them  more  and 
more  perfect  as  we  approach  their  divine 
origin. 

There  prevail,  at  present,  two  kinds  of 
music,  as  diverse  as  their  origins — profane 
and  religious.  The  one  is  the  result  of  the 
free,  unrestrained  expression  of  natural  feel- 
ings ;  the  other,  of  a  kind  which  indicates 
that  these  feelings  are  placed  under  restraint. 


60  GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND. 

In  the  one,  there  is  often  something  of  sen- 
suality ;  in  the  other,  of  sadness.  There  is 
a  point  in  moral  and  religious  improvement, 
in  which  the  sensual  will  be  subdued,  and 
the  sorrowful  disappear ;  which  will  combine 
the  pleasure  of  the  one  with  the  sanctity  of 
the  other.  When  a  sense  of  the  presence  of 
God  shall  be  coextensive  with  the  thoughts  of 
the  mind,  and  religion  shall  consecrate  every 
word  and  action  of  our  lives,  the  song  of 
Zion  will  be  no  longer  sung  in  a  strange 
land.  The  Divine  Love,  the  soul  and  es- 
sence of  music,  will  descend,  not  in  the 
thunders  of  Sinai,  but  will  seem  to  acquire 
volume,  as  it  tunes  the  heart  in  unison  with 
itself,  and  ihe  tongue  in  unison  with  the 
heart.  The  changes  in  the  character  of  our 
music,  which  may  be  the  effect  of  the  grad- 
ual regeneration  of  the  world,  are  hardly 
within  the  reach  of  conjecture. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  illustrate  gener- 
ally the  influence  of  the  natural  world  in  the 
development  of  the  mind.  The  actual  con- 
dition of  society  operates  to  produce  the 
sarns  effect,  with  hardly  less  power.  In  this 


GROTVTH   OF  THE   MIND.  61 

are  comprised  the  religious  and  civil  institu- 
tions of  one's  own  country ;  that  peculiar 
character  in  which  they  originate ;  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  past,  as,  by  disclosing  the 
origin  and  progress  of  things,  it  throws  light 
on  the  prospect  actually  before  us.  As  the 
philosophy  connected  with  the  natural  world 
is  that  in  which  the  mind  may  take  root, 
by  which  it  may  possess  an  independence 
worthy  a  being  whose  eternal  destiny  is  in 
his  own  hands — so  the  moral  and  civil  insti- 
tutions, the  actual  condition  of  society,  is  the 
atmosphere  which  surrounds  and  protects  it; 
in  which  it  sends  forth  its  branches  and  bears 
fruit. 

The  spiritual  part  of  man  is  as  really  a 
substance  as  the  material;  and  is  as  capable 
of  acting  upon  spirit,  as  matter  is  upon  mat- 
ter. It  is  not  from  words  of  instruction  and 
advice,  that  the  mind  of  the  infant  derives 
its  first  impetus  ;  it  gathers  strength  from 
the  warmth  of  those  affections  which  over- 
shadow it,  and  is  nourished  by  a  mother's 
love,  even  before  it  has  attained  the  power 
of  thought.  It  is  the  natural  tendency  of 


62  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

things,  that  an  individual  should  be  brought 
into  a  situation,  in  which  the  external  con- 
dition of  the  place,  and  the  circle  of  society 
in  which  he  is,  are  particularly  adapted  to 
bring  forth  to  view  his  hereditary  character. 
The  actual  condition  of  the  human  mind  is, 
as  it  were,  the  solid  substance,  in  which  the 
laws  of  moral  and  intellectual  philosophy  and 
political  economy  (whatever  may  be  their 
quality)  exist  embodied,  as  the  natural  sci- 
ences do  in  the  material  world.  A  knowl- 
edge of  those  laws,  such  as  they  exist,  is  the 
natural  consequence  of  the  development  of 
the  affections  by  which  a  child  is  connected 
with  those  that  surround  him. 

The  connection  of  mind  is  not  less  power- 
ful or  universal  than  that  of  matter.  All 
minds,  whatever  may  be  their  condition,  are 
not  unconnected  with  God ;  and,  consequent- 
ly, not  unconnected  with  each  other.  All 
nations,  under  whatever  system  of  govern- 
ment, and  in  whatever  state  of  civilization, 
are  under  the  Divine  Providence  surely,  but 
almost  imperceptibly,  advancing  to  a  moral 
and  political  order,  such  as  the  world  has 


GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND.  63 

not  yet  seen.  They  are  guided  by  the  same 
hand,  and  with  a  view  to  the  same  destiny. 
Much  remains  to  be  done,  and  more  to  be 
suffered  ;  but  the  end  is  certain.  The  hum- 
blest individual  may,  nay,  must  aid  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  consummation.  It  is 
not  for  time  or  space  to  set  limits  to  the 
effects  of  the  life  of  a  single  man.  Let  then 
the  child  bs  so  initiated  into  a  knowledge  of 
the  condition  of  mankind,  that  the  love  at 
first  indulged  in  the  circle  of  his  father's 
family  shall  gradually  subside  into  a  chaste 
and  sober  love  of  his  country ;  and  of  his 
country,  not  as  opposed  to  other  countries, 
but  as  aiding  them  in  the  same  great  object. 
Let  the  young  mind  be  warmed  and  cher- 
ished by  whatever  is  chaste  and  generous  in 
the  mind  of  the  public ;  and  be  borne  on  to 
a  knowledge  of  our  institutions,  by  the  rich 
current  of  the  disposition  to  preserve  them. 

Thus  it  is,  that  the  child  is  no  sooner 
brought  into  this  world,  than  the  actual  con- 
dition, both  of  the  world  itself  and  of  soci- 
ety, acts  powerfully  to  draw  forth  the  ener- 
gies of  his  mind.  If  mankind  had  retained 


64  GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND. 

that  order  in  which  they  were  created,  this 
influence,  in  cooperation  with  the  Divine, 
would  have  been  sufficient,  as  it  was  de- 
signed to  have  been,  for  all  the  purposes  of 
God.  Nature,  the  very  image  of  divine  love- 
liness and  the  purest  affections  of  the  heart, 
which  approach  still  nearer  the  same  origin, 
acting  together  on  the  infant  mind ;  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  effect  would  be  almost  as 
certain  as  any  process  of  growth  which  is 
witnessed  among  the  productions  of  the 
natural  world.  But  man  is  fallen ;  and 
the  operation  of  this  influence,  in  different 
conditions  of  society,  may  produce  different 
results,  but  in  none  is  sufficient  to  capacitate 
him  for  that  life  of  usefulness  and  happiness 
for  which  he  was  designed.  The  influence 
of  society  cannot  be  sufficient,  since  this 
cannot  raise  a  man  above  its  own  level ;  and 
the  society  of  earth  is  no  longer  the  society 
of  heaven.  This  influence  may  bring  for 
ward  all  the  warlike  energies  of  the  young 
savage,  and  direct  them  in  their  utmost 
vigor  to  the  destruction  of  his  enemies,  and 
of  the  beasts  of  the  forest;  and  he  may  look 


GROWTH   OF    THE  MIND.  65 

omvard  with  rapture  to  the  happy  hunting- 
grounds  beyond  the  grave.  What  disap- 
pointment awaits  him  in  the  other  world,  all 
of  us  may  easily  imagine.  This  influence 
may  bring  forth  and  gratify  the  unchaste 
and  beastly  passions  of  the  Turk ;  and  he 
may  look  forward,  with  his  Koran  in  his 
hand,  to  a  heaven  of  sensuality  and  crime. 
It  need  not  be  said  how  widely  different  will 
be  found  the  reality.  Christians  generally 
are  standing  in  expectation  of  a  happiness 
as  boundless  in  extent,  as  it  is  undefined  in 
its  nature ;  and  with  an  infinite  variety  of 
passions,  in  whose  gratification  alone  they 
have  experienced  delight,  are  expecting  a 
heaven  in  which  simple  useless  enjoyment 
will  rise  like  a  flood  and  immerse  the  mind. 
The  result  must  of  necessity,  be  as  various 
as  the  condition  of  the  individuals  by  whom 
it  is  anticipated.  Still  there  is  a  church  yet 
in  its  coming,  unseen,  though  not  unseeing, 
shrouded  from  the  rest  of  the  world  by  the 
very  brilliancy  of  its  own  light,  which  would 
resist  the  impulse  of  every  evil  affection,  and 
look  for  heaven  simply  in  the  delight  of  that 
5 


66  GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND. 

which  is  chaste,  pure,  and  holy ;  which,  by 
removing  that  which  renders  duty  undelight- 
ful,  would  draw  nigh  to  the  only  Source  of 
real  enjoyment;  which  would  find  its  happi- 
ness and  its  God  in  the  very  commandments 
which  have  been  the  terror  of  the  world;  to 
which  the  effect  is  no  longer  doubtful,  since 
it  is  made  acquainted  with  the  cause,  and 
which,  as  it  anticipates  no  reward,  will  meet 
with  no  disappointment.  When  this  church 
shall  be  fully  established  on  the  earth,  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  will  be  no  longer  ob- 
structed as  it  descends  from  above  the  heav- 
ens : — "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  God" 

The  influence  of  the  natural  world,  how- 
ever beneficial  it  may  prove,  is  not  such  as  it 
was  designed  to  have  been.  Man  has  ever 
sought  a  condition  in  nature,  which  should 
correspond  with  the  state  of  his  own  mind. 
The  savage  would  pine  and  droop,  if  too  sud- 
denly removed  to  scenes  of  civilization,  like 
grass  which  had  grown  in  rank  luxuriance  un- 
der the  shade  of  the  oak,  if  the  branches  were 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  67 

cleft,  and  it  was  at  once  exposed  to  the  power 
of  the  sun.  The  character  of  all  the  lower 
orders  of  creation  has  suffered  a  change  in 
consequence  of  that  in  the  condition  of  man, 
the  extent  of  which  cannot  be  measured. 
That  the  sun  was  darkened  at  the  crucifix- 
ion of  our  Lord  was  no  miracle.  It  was  as 
much  the  necessary  consequence  of  that  event, 
as  its  present  lustre  is  of  His  glory.  It  is  not 
then  for  these,  the  objects  of  nature,  to  restore 
to  us  that  moral  order,  the  want  of  which  has 
wrought  such  changes  on  themselves. 

There  is  then  another  power  which  is  neces- 
sary to  the  orderly  development  of  the  mind 
— the  power  of  the  Word  of  God.  This  in- 
deed has  been  implied  in  all  the  preceding 
remarks.  No  possessions  and  no  efforts  of  the 
mind  are  unconnected  with  it,  whatever  may 
be  the  appearance.  Revelation  so  mingles 
with  everything  which  meets  us,  that  it  is  not 
easy  for  us  to  measure  the  degree  to  which 
our  condition  is  affected  by  it.  Its  effects  ap- 
pear miraculous  at  first,  but  after  they  have 
become  established,  the  mind,  as  in  the  ordi- 
nary operations  of  nature,  is  apt  to  become 


68  GROWTH  OF  THE  MIND. 

unconscious  of  the  power  by  which  they  are 
produced. 

All  growth  or  development  is  effected  from 
within,  outward.  It  is  so  with  animals ;  it  is 
so  with  vegetables  ;  it  is  so  with  the  body ;  it 
is  so  with  the  mind.  Were  it  not  for  a  power 
within  the  soul,  as  the  soul  is  within  the  body, 
it  could  have  no  possibility  of  subsistence. 
That  the  growth  of  the  material  part  depends 
on  the  presence  of  that  which  is  spiritual,  is 
obvious  from  the  fact,  that  at  death  the  former 
falls  to  decay.  If  it  were  possible  for  God  to 
be  detached  from  our  spiritual  part,  this  would 
decay  likewise.  The  doctrine,  then,  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  is,  simply,  "  I  in  my 
Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  It  is  the 
union  of  the  Divine  with  the  human — of  that 
from  which  all  things  are,  and  on  which  they 
depend,  the  Divine  Will,  with  man  through 
the  connecting  medium  of  Divine  Truth.  It 
is  the  tendency  of  the  Bible  to  effect  this  un- 
ion, and  of  course  to  restore  a  consciousness 
of  it.  It  is  a  union  which  God  desires  with 
all,  therefore  even  the  wicked  who  reject  it 
partake  of  his  immortality,  though  not  of  his 


GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND.  69 

happiness.  When,  in  the  process  of  regenera- 
tion, this  union  is  accomplished,  the  fear  of 
dissolution  will  be  as  impossible  in  this  world 
as  in  the  other  ;  and  before  this  is  effected,  the 
fear  of  dissolution  may  exist  there  as  well  as 
here.  It  is  not  the  place  where  a  person  is, 
but  the  condition  of  mind  which  is  to  be  re- 
garded; and  there  is  no  antidote  against  the 
fear  of  death,  but  the  consciousness  of  being 
united  with  the  Fountain  of  life.  But  it  is 
asked,  how  can  the  fear  of  death  exist  after  it 
has  actually  taken  place  ?  The  separation  of 
the  spiritual  and  material  part,  so  far  as  the 
nature  of  their  connection  is  understood,  can 
produce  no  fear.  Were  it  not  for  evil  in  our- 
selves, it  would  rather  wear  the  appearance  of 
a  state  of  uncommon  quiet.  There  is  upon 
no  subject  a  more  powerful  tendency  to  in- 
stinctive knowledge,  than  upon  that  of  death. 
The  darkness  with  which  it  is  veiled,  presents 
but  a  lamentable  picture  of  our  present  con- 
dition. It  is  its  own  dissolution  of  which  the 
mind  is  afraid ;  and  that  want  of  conjunction 
with  God  which  renders  this  fear  possible  here, 
may  render  it  possible  anywhere. 


* 


70  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

It  is  the  sole  object  of  the  Bible  to  conjoin 
the  soul  with  God ;  and,  as  this  is  effected,  it 
may  be  understood  in  what  way  the  Holy 
Spirit  operates  interiorly  to  produce  its  de- 
velopment. It  is  not  a  mere  metaphor,  it  is 
a  plain  and  simple  fact,  that  the  Spirit  of 
God,  is  as  necessary  to  the  development  of 
the  mind,  as  the  power  of  the  natural  sun 
to  the  growth  of  vegetables,  and  in  the  same 
way.  But  let  us  remember,  that,  as  in  na- 
ture the  heat  and  light  may  be  converted 
into  the  most  noxious  poison  ;  so  the  Spirit 
of  God,  in  itself  perfectly  pure  and  holy, 
may  be  converted  into  passions  the  most  op- 
posite to  its  nature.  It  is  left  to  us  to  open 
our  hearts  to  its  influence,  by  obeying  the  com- 
mandments. "  If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  com- 
mandments ;  and  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and 
he  shall  give  you  another  Comforter  that  he 
may  abide  with  you  forever."  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  ;  "  and 
he  will  become  conscious  of  living  and  grow- 
ing from  God. 

It  is  not  consistent  with  the  nature  of  things 
that  the  full  practical  effect  of  a  subject  should 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  71 

be  at  once  revealed  to  the  mind.  The  child  is 
led  on  to  a  knowledge  of  his  letters  by  a  thou- 
sand little  enticements,  and  by  the  tender  co- 
ercion of  parental  authority,  while  he  is  yet 
ignorant  of  the  treasures  mysteriously  con- 
cealed in  their  combinations.  The  arts  have 
been  courted  merely  for  the  transient  gratifi- 
cation they  afford.  Their  connection  with  re- 
ligion and  with  the  sciences  is  beginning  to 
be  discovered ;  and  they  are  yet  to  yield  a 
powerful  influence  in  imparting  to  the  mind 
its  moral  harmony  and  proportions.  The 
sciences  themselves  have  been  studied  prin- 
cipally as  subjects  of  speculation  and  amuse- 
ment. They  have  been  sought  for  the  grat- 
ification they  afford,  and  for  the  artificial 
standing  they  give  in  society,  by  the  line  of 
distinction  which  is  drawn  between  the  learned 
and  the  vulgar.  The  discovery  of  their  con- 
nection with  the  actual  condition  of  man,  is 
of  later  origin ;  and  though  their  application 
to  use  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  they  are  beginning 
to  throw  a  light  on  almost  every  department 
of  labor,  hitherto  unexampled  in  the  annals 
of  the  world.  Religion,  too,  has  been  a  sub- 


72  GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND. 

ject  of  speculation,  something  evanescent,  a 
theory,  a  prayer,  a  hope.  It  remains  for  this 
also  to  become  practical,  by  the  actual  accom- 
plishment of  that  which  it  promises.  It  re- 
mains for  the  promise  of  reward  to  be  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  work  of  salvation.  It  re- 
mains for  the  soul  to  be  restored  to  its  union 
with  God — to  heaven.  Christianity  is  the  tree 
of  life  again  planted  in  the  world ;  and,  by 
its  own  vital  power,  it  has  been,  year  after 
year,  casting  off  the  opinions  of  men,  like  the 
external  bark  which  partakes  not  of  its  life. 
It  remains  for  the  human  mind  to  become 
conformed  to  its  spirit,  that  its  principles  may 
possess  the  durability  of  their  origin. 

Such  are  the  effects  to  be  anticipated  from 
the  Bible  in  the  development  of  the  mind.  It 
has  begun  the  work,  and  will  perfect  it  in  each 
individual,  so  far  as,  by  a  life  according  to  the 
commandments,  he  becomes  willing  that  it 
should.  There  is  within  it  a  secret  power, 
which  exerts  an  influence  on  the  moral  and 
intellectual  world  like  that  of  the  sun  on  the 
physical  ;  and,  however  long  and  successfully 
it  may  be  resisted  by  some,  not  the  less  cer- 


GKOWTH   OF  THE  MIND.  73 

tain  in  its  effect  on  the  ultimate  condition  of 
society.  I  am  aware  that,  in  these  remarks,  I 
am  ascribing  to  the  spirit  of  God,  to  the  spirit 
of  the  Word,  a  power  which  some  may  be  un- 
willing to  allow  to  it.  The  Bible  is  thought 
to  resemble  other  books,  and  to  be  subject  to 
the  same  laws  of  criticism ;  and  we  may  be 
sometimes  in  danger  of  becoming  insensible 
to  its  internal  power,  from  the  very  mass  of 
human  learning  with  which  it  is  encumbered. 
"  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ?  "  , 

There  is  one  law  of  criticism,  the  most  im- 
portant to  the  thorough  understanding  of  any 
work,  which  seems  not  to  have  been  brought 
sufficiently  into  view  in  the  study  of  the  Bi- 
ble. It  is  that  by  which  we  should  be  led  by 
a  continued  exercise  of  those  powers  which 
are  most  clearly  demonstrated  in  an  author; 
by  continued  habits  of  mind  and  action ;  to 
approximate  to  that  intellectual  and  moral 
condition,  in  which  the  work  originated.  If 
it  were  desired  to  make  a  child  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  work  of  a  genuine  poet,  I 
would  not  put  the  poem  and  lexicon  in  his 
hand,  and  bid  him  study  and  learn — I  would 


74  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

rather  make  him  familiar  with  whatever  was 
calculated  to  call  forth  the  power  of  poetry  in 
himself;  since  it  requires  the  exercise  of  the 
same  powers  to  understand,  that  it  does  to 
produce.  I  would  point  him  to  that  source 
from  which  the  author  himself  had  caught  his 
inspiration,  and,  as  I  led  him  to  the  baptismal 
fount  of  nature,  I  would  consecrate  his  powers 
to  that  Being  from  whom  nature  exists.  I 
would  cultivate  a  sense  of  the  constant  pres- 
ence and  agency  of  God,  and  direct  him  in- 
ward to  the  presence-chamber  of  the  Most 
High,  that  his  mind  might  become  imbued 
with  His  spirit.  I  would  endeavor,  by  the 
whole  course  of  his  education,  to  make  him 
a  living  poem,  that,  when  he  read  the  poetry 
of  others,  it  might  be  effulgent  with  the  light 
of  his  own  mind. 

The  poet  stands  on  the  mountain,  with  the 
face  of  nature  before  him,  calm  and  placid.  If 
we  would  enter  into  his  views,  we  must  go 
where  he  is.  We  must  catch  the  direction  of 
his  eye,  and  yield  ourselves  up  to  the  instinc- 
tive guidance  of  his  will,  that  we  may  have  a 
secret  foretaste  of  his  meaning — that  we  may 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  75 

be  conscious  of  the  image  in  its  first  concep- 
tion— that  we  may  perceive  its  beginnings  and 
gradual  growth,  till  at  length  it  becomes  dis- 
tinctly depicted  on  the  retina  of  the  mind. 
Without  this,  we  may  take  the  dictionary  in 
our  hands,  and  settle  the  definition  of  every 
word,  and  still  know  as  little  of  the  lofty  con- 
ceptions of  the  author,  as  the  weary  traveller, 
who  passes  round  in  the  farthest  verge  which 
is  visible  from  the  mountain,  knows  of  the 
scenery  which  is  seen  from  its  summit.  It  has 
been  truly  said,  that  Johnson  was  incapable  of 
conceiving  the  beauties  of  Milton.  Yet  John- 
son was  himself  a  living  dictionary  of  Milton's 
language.  The  true  poet,  when  his  mind  is 
full,  fills  his  language  to  overflowing ;  and  it  is 
left  to  the  reader  to  preserve  what  the  words 
cannot  contain.  It  is  that  part  which  cannot 
be  defined ;  that  which  is  too  delicate  to  en- 
dure the  unrestrained  gaze  ;  that  which  shrinks 
instinctively  from  the  approach  of  anything 
less  chaste  than  itself,  and  though  present,  like 
the  inhabitants  of  the  other  world,  is  un per- 
ceived by  flesh  and  blood,  which  is  worth  all 
the  rest.  This  acknowledges  no  dwelling-place 


76  GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND. 

but  the  mind.  Stamp  the  living  light  on  the 
extended  face  of  nature,  beyond  the  power  of 
darkness  at  the  setting  of  the  sun,  and  you 
may  preserve  such  light  as  this,  when  the  mind 
rises  not  to  meet  it  in  its  coming. 

If  it  were  desired  to  make  an  individual  ac- 
quainted with  a  work  in  one  of  the  abstract 
sciences,  this  might  be  best  effected  by  leading 
him  gradually  to  whatever  conduced  to  the 
growth  of  those  powers,  on  which  a  knowledge 
of  these  sciences  depends ;  by  cultivating  a 
principle  of  dependence  on  the  Divine  Being, 
a  purity  and  chastity  of  the  affections,  which 
will  produce  a  tranquil  condition,  of  all  things 
the  most  favorable  to  clear  perceptions  ;  by 
leading  him  to  an  habitual  observation  of  the 
relations  of  things,  and  to  such  continued  ex- 
ertion of  the  understanding,  as,  calling  into  use 
its  full  powers  without  inducing  fatigue,  may 
impart  the  strength  of  the  laborer,  without  the 
degradation  of  the  slave  ;  in  a  word,  by  form- 
ing a  penetrating,  mathematical  mind,  rather 
than  by  communicating  mathematical  infor- 
mation. The  whole  character  and  complexion 
of  the  mind  will  be  gradually  changed  ;  till  at 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  77 

length  it  will  become  (chemically  speaking) 
in  its  very  nature  an  active  solvent  of  these 
subjects.  They  fall  to  pieces  as  soon  as 
they  come  in  contact  with  it,  and  assume 
an  arrangement  agreeable  to  that  of  the  mind 
itself,  with  all  the  precision  of  crystallization. 
They  are  then  understood;  for  the  most  per- 
fect understanding  of  a  subject  is  simply  a 
perception  of  harmony  existing  between  the 
subject  and  the  mind  itself.  Indeed,  the  un- 
derstanding which  any  individual  possesses  of 
a  subject  might  be  mathematically  defined 

the  subject  proposed,  1^1  • 

the  actual  liter  of  his  mind;     and    ther6    1S    *    Constant 

struggle  for  the  divisor  and  dividend  to  become 
the  same  by  a  change  in  the  one  or  the  other, 
that  the  result  may  be  unity,  and  the  under- 
standing perfect. 

There  is  an  analogy  (such  as  may  exist 
beween  things  human  and  things  divine)  be- 
tween that  discipline  which  is  required  in  order 
to  understand  a  production  of  taste  or  science, 
and  that  which  is  necessary  to  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  As  it  is 
requisite  to  a  full  sense  of  the  beauties  of 
poetry,  that  the  individual  should  be  himself  a 


78  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

poet,  and  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  a  work 
of  science,  that  he  should  not  merely  have 
scientific  information,  but  a  scientific  mind ;  so 
it  is  necessary  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
that  the  mind  should  be  formed  in  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God.  An  understanding  of  the 
Word  is  the  effect  of  a  life  according  to  its 
precepts.  It  requires,  not  the  obedience  of  the 
rich  man  who  went  away  sorrowful,  but  the 
obedience  of  him  who  holds  every  other  pos- 
session, whether  it  consist  in  the  acquirements 
of  the  mind  or  in  earthly  property,  in  subjec- 
tion to  the  Holy  Spirit  within  him.  "  If  ye 
will  do  the  will  of  God,  ye  shall  know  of  the 
doctrine,"  is  a  law  of  exegesis,  before  which 
false  sentiments  will  melt  away,  like  frost  be- 
fore the  rising  sun.  There  is  within  the  mind 
the  golden  vein  of  duty,  which,  if  followed 
aright,  will  lead  to  an  increasing  brightness, 
before  which  the  proudest  monuments  of  hu- 
man criticism  will  present  an  appearance  like 
that  of  the  dark  disk  of  this  world,  as  the  eye  of 
the  dying  man  opens  on  the  scenes  of  the  other. 
The  world  is  beginning  to  be  changed  from 
what  it  was.  Physical  power,  instead  of 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  79 

boasting  of  its  deeds  of  prowess,  and  pointing 
with  the  tomahawk  or  the  lance  to  the  bloody 
testimonies  of  its  strength,  is  beginning  to 
leave  its  image  on  the  rugged  face  of  nature, 
and  to  feel  the  living  evidence  of  its  achieve- 
ments, in  the  happy  circle  of  domestic  life.  It 
remains  for  intellectual  strength  to  lose  the 
consciousness  of  its  existence  in  the  passions 
subdued,  and  to  reap  the  reward  of  its  labors, 
not  in  the  spoils  of  an  enemy,  but  in  the  fruits 
of  honest  industry.  It  remains  for  us  to  be- 
come more  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
laws  of  moral  mechanism.  Instead  of  making 
unnecessary  and  ineffectual  exertions  in  the 
direct  attainment  of  truth,  it  remains  for  us  to 
make  equal  efforts  to  cleanse  our  own  minds 
and  to  do  good  to  others ;  and  what  was  be- 
fore unattainable  will  become  easy,  as  the  rock 
which  untutored  strength  cannot  move,  may 
be  raised  by  a  touch  of  the  ringer. 

The  Bible  differs  from  other  books,  as  our 
Lord  differed  from  men.  He  was  born  of  a 
woman,  but  his  spirit  was  the  everlasting 
Father.  It  is  humble  in  its  appearance,  as 
nature  is  when  compared  to  art ;  and  some 


80  GROWTH  OF  THE  MIND. 

parts  which  Providence  has  permitted  to 
remain  within  the  same  cover  have  often 
attracted  more  attention  than  that  which  is 
really  divine.  From  the  very  nature  of  per- 
fect innocence  its  presence  is  unnoticed,  save 
by  him  by  whom  it  is  loved.  Divine  Love, 
in  its  perfect  thoughtlessness  of  itself,  enters 
the  atheistical  heart,  unperceived.  Such  an 
one  thinks  meanly  of  those  who  think  humbly 
of  themselves,  and  with  perfect  humility  the 
last  vestige  of  reality  disappears.  To  him, 
both  nature  and  the  Word  are  like  a  deserted 
building,  through  which,  as  he  passes,  he  is 
conscious  of  nothing  but  the  sound  of  his 
own  footsteps;  but  to  him  whose  heart  opens 
to  the  Divine  Influence,  this  building  appears 
to  assume,  from  the  internal  cause  of  its  crea- 
tion, the  symmetry  of  perfect  proportions,  till 
at  length,  as  he  becomes  more  and  more 
conscious  of  the  presence  with  which  it  is 
filled,  he  sees  no  temple,  "  for  the  Lord  God 
Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple." 
The  Word  resembles  the  Hebrew  language, 
in  which  much  of  it  is  written.  To  him 
who  knows  not  its  spirit,  it  is  an  empty  form 


GROWTH   OF  THE   MIND.  81 

without  sound  or  vowel;  but  to  him  who  is 
alive  to  the  Divine  Influence,  it  is  filled  with 
the  living  voice  of  God. 

The  Bible  can  never  be  fully  understood, 
either  by  making  it  subservient  to  natural 
reason,  or  by  blindly  adopting  what  reason 
would  reject;  but  by  that  illumination  of  the 
understanding  and  enlargement  of  the  reason 
which  will  result  from  a  gradual  conformity 
to  its  precepts.  Reason  now  is  something 
very  different  from  what  it  was  a  few  cen- 
turies past.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  thinking 
that  the  mode  of  reasoning  has  changed ; 
but  this  appears  to  be  merely  an  indication 
of  a  change  which  has  taken  place  in  the 
character  of  the  mind  itself.  Syllogistic  rea- 
soning will  be  superseded  by  something 
higher  and  better.  It  amounts  to  nothing 
but  the  discernment  and  expression  of  the 
particulars  which  go  to  comprise  something 
more  general ;  and,  as  the  human  mind  per- 
mits things  to  assume  a  proper  arrangement 
from  their  own  inherent  power  of  attraction, 
it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  bind  them  to- 
gether with  syllogisms.  Few  minds  can  now 
6 


82  GROWTH    OF   THE  MIND. 

endure  the  tediousness  of  being  led  blindfold 
to  a  conclusion,  and  of  being  satisfied  with 
the  result  merely  from  the  recollection  of 
having  been  satisfied  on  the  way  to  it.  The 
mind  requires  to  view  the  parts  of  a  subject, 
not  only  separately,  but  together ;  and  the 
understanding,  in  the  exercise  of  those  pow- 
ers of  arrangement,  by  which  a  subject  is 
presented  in  its  just  relations  to  other  things, 
takes  the  name  of  reason.  We  appear  to  be 
approaching  that  condition  which  requires 
the  union  of  reason  and  eloquence,  and  will 
be  satisfied  with  neither  without  the  other. 
We  neither  wish  to  see  an  anatomical  plate 
of  bare  muscles,  nor  the  gaudy  daubings 
of  finery ;  but  a  happy  mixture  of  strength 
and  beauty.  We  desire  language  neither 
extravagant  nor  cold,  but  blood  warm.  Rea- 
son is  beginning  to  learn  the  necessity  of  sim- 
ply tracing  the  relations  which  exist  between 
created  things,  and  of  not  even  touching  what 
it  examines,  lest  it  disturb  the  arrangement  in 
the  cabinet  of  creation — and  as,  in  the  pro- 
gress of  moral  improvement,  the  imagination 
(which  is  called  the  creative  power  of  man) 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  88 

shall  coincide  with  the  actively  creative  will 
of  God,  reason  will  be  clothed  with  eloquence, 
as  nature  is  with  verdure. 

Reason  is  said  to  be  a  power  given  to 
man  for  his  protection  and  safety.  Let  us 
not  be  deceived  by  words.  If  this  were  the 
particular  design,  it  should  be  found  in  equal 
perfection  in  every  condition  of  the  mind; 
for  all  are  in  equal  need  of  such  a  power. 
It  is  the  office  of  the  eye  to  discern  the  ob- 
jects of  nature,  and  it  may  protect  the  body 
from  any  impending  injury;  and  the  under- 
standing may  be  useful  in  a  similar  way  to 
the  spiritual  man.  Reason  is  partly  a  natu- 
ral and  partly  an  acquired  power.  The  un- 
derstanding is  the  eye,  with  simply  the  power 
of  discerning  the  light ;  but  reason  is  the  eye, 
whose  powers  have  been  enlarged  by  exercise 
and  experience,  which  measures  the  distance 
of  objects,  compares  their  magnitudes,  dis- 
cerns their  colors,  and  selects  and  arranges 
them  according  to  the  relation  they  bear  to 
each  other.  In  the  progress  of  moral  improve- 
ment no  power  of  the  mind,  or  rather  no 
mode  of  exercising  the  understanding,  under- 


84  GKOWTH   OP   THE   MIND. 

goes  a  more  thorough  and  decisive  change 
than  this.  It  is  like  the  change  from  chaos 
to  creation ;  since  it  requires  a  similar  exercise 
of  the  understanding  in  man  to  comprehend 
creation,  to  what  it  does  in  God  to  produce 
it;  and  every  approach  to  him,  by  bringing 
us  nearer  the  origin  of  things,  enables  us  to 
discover  analogies  in  what  was  before  chaotic. 
This  is  a  change  which  it  is  the  grand  de- 
sign of  revelation  to  accomplish  ;  reason 
should  therefore  come  to  revelation  in  the 
spirit  of  prayer,  and  not  in  that  of  judg- 
ment. Nothing  can  be  more  intimately  and 
necessarily  connected  with  the  moral  charac- 
ter of  an  individual  than  his  rational  powers, 
since  it  is  his  moral  character  which  is  the 
grand  cause  of  that  peculiar  classification 
and  arrangement  which  characterizes  his 
mind  ;  hence  revelation,  in  changing  the  for- 
mer, must  change  the  latter  also. 

The  insufficiency  of  reason  to  judge  of  the 
Bible,  is  obvious  on  the  very  face  of  revela- 
tion from  its  miracles.  The  laws  of  Divine 
Operation  are  perfectly  uniform  and  harmo- 
nious ;  and  a  miracle  is  a  particular  instance 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  85 

of  Divine  Power,  which,  for  want  of  a  more 
interior  and  extended  knowledge  of  the  ways 
of  God,  appearing  to  stand  alone,  and  to 
have  been  the  result  of  an  unusual  exertion 
of  the  Divine  Will,  creates  in  the  minds  of 
men,  what  its  name  implies,  a  sensation  of 
wonder.  That  there  are  miracles  in  the  Bi- 
ble, proves  that  there  are  laws  of  the  Divine 
Operation  and  of  the  Divine  Government, 
which  are  not  embraced  within  the  utmost 
limits  of  that  classification  and  arrangement, 
which  is  the  result  of  natural  reason.  While, 
therefore,  human  reason  professes  to  be  con- 
vinced of  the  reality  of  revelation  from  its 
miracles,  let  it  humble  itself  before  them. 
Let  it  bow  itself  to  the  earth,  that  it  may 
be  exalted  to  a  more  intimate  acquaintance 
with  these  heavenly  strangers.  Let  it  follow 
the  Lord  in  the  regeneration,  till  the  won- 
derful disappear  in  the  paternal. 

Miracles  are  like  angels  who  have  some- 
times been  visible  to  men,  who  would  much 
more  willingly  have  introduced  them  to  an 
acquaintance  with  the  laws  and  society  of 
heaven,  than  have  filled  them  with  fear  and 


86  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

consternation.  They  are  insulated  examples 
of  laws  as  boundless  as  the  universe,  and  by 
the  manner  in  which  we  are  affected  by 
them,  prove  how  much  we  have  to  learn, 
and  how  utterly  incompetent  we  are  to  judge 
of  the  ways  of  God,  from  that  reason  which 
is  founded  on  our  own  limited  and  falla- 
cious observation.  The  resurrection  of  our 
Lord  must  have  been  a  very  different  mira- 
cle to  the  angels  at  the  sepulchre,  from  what 
it  was  to  Mary.  They  saw  it  from  the 
other  side  of  the  grave,  with  a  knowledge  of 
the  nature  of  that  death  which  they  had 
themselves  experienced ;  she  saw  an  insulated 
fact,  not  at  all  coincident  with  her  views  on 
the  subject  of  which  it  was  an  illustration. 
They  saw  the  use  and  design  of  that  which 
had  been  accomplished ;  she  saw  the  sepulchre 
and  the  linen  clothes  lying.  As  they  gazed 
intensely  at  the  same  subject,  the  veil  of 
heaven  was  withdrawn,  and  they  beheld  each 
other,  face  to  face.  She  was  filled  with  fear; 
they  with  love  and  compassion.  If  Mary 
were  to  persist  in  judging  of  this  subject 
from  her  own  reason  ;  from  a  knowledge  of 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  87 

those  laws  with  which  she  was  previously 
acquainted ;  how  could  her  views  ever  be- 
come angelic  ?  How  could  the  dark  cloud 
of  admiration  be  ever  filled  with  the  rich 
light  of  the  rising  sun  ? 

Man  alone,  of  all  created  things,  appears 
on  his  own  account  to  want  the  full  meas- 
ure of  his  happiness ;  because  he  alone  has 
left  the  order  of  his  creation.  He  stands, 
even  at  the  present  period,  half  convinced 
of  the  reality  of  the  future  state.  It  is  the 
design  of  revelation  to  restore  to  him  that 
moral  condition  in  which  he  will  possess  as 
necessarily  the  consciousness  of  immortality, 
as  the  brute  does  that  of  existence ;  for  a 
consciousness  of  existence,  together  with  that 
of  union  with  God,  is  a  consciousness  of 
eternal  life.  Let  us  come  to  the  Bible,  then, 
with  no  hopes  of  arbitrary  reward,  and  no 
fears  of  arbitrary  punishment  \  but  let  us 
come  to  it,  as  to  that,  which,  if  followed 
aright,  will  produce  a  condition  of  mind  of 
which  happiness  will  be  the  natural  and  ne- 
cessary consequence. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  Bible  has  nothing 


88  GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND. 

to  do  with  metaphysics  or  the  sciences.  An 
individual,  whatever  be  his  condition,  always 
retains,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  consciousness 
of  his  moral  and  intellectual  character;  and 
the  more  this  character  is  exalted,  the  more 
minute  and  discriminating  will  be  this  con- 
sciousness. Who  is  it  that  formed  the  hu- 
man mind,  and  who  is  here  endeavoring  to 
restore  it  to  its  true  order?  The  Bible  has 
the  mind  for  its  subject,  that  condition  of 
mind  which  has  heaven  for  its  object,  and  the 
Father  of  mind  for  its  author.  Has  it  noth- 
ing to  do  with  metaphysics  ?  It  has  indeed 
nothing  to  do  with  that  metaphysics  which 
we  shall  leave  with  our  bodies  in  the  graves; 
but  of  that  which  will  shine  with  more  and 
more  brilliancy,  as  the  passage  is  opened, 
not  through  distant  regions  of  space,  but 
through  the  secret  part  of  our  own  souls  to 
the  presence  of  God,  it  is  the  very  life  and 
being.  Can  omniscience  contemplate  the 
happiness  of  the  mind,  without  regard  to  its 
nature  ?  Were  we  disposed  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  savage,  what  course  should 
we  pursue  ?  Should  we  not  endeavor  to 


GKOWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  89 

change  his  habits  of  mind  and  body,  by 
teaching  him  the  arts  of  civilization,  instruct- 
ing him  in  the  sciences,  and  gradually  intro- 
ducing him  to  that  portion  of  social  order 
which  is  here  attained  ?  And  are  not  all 
these  most  intimately  connected  with  our 
own  condition  of  rnind  ?  Are  they  not 
merely  the  expression  of  its  countenance  ? 
In  the  same  way  is  it  the  endeavor  of  the 
Divine  Mind  in  the  Bible  to  restore  all  to 
his  own  image  and  b'keness;  and  to  say  that 
the  Bible  has  nothing  to  do  with  metaphys- 
ics, is  to  say  that  the  present  condition  of 
the  mind  has  nothing  to  do  with  what  it 
should  be,  and  that  present  metaphysics 
have  nothing  to  do  with  religion. 

It  is  said  that  the  Bible  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  sciences.  It  is  true  that  it  does 
not  teach  them  directly ;  but  it  is  gradually 
unfolding  a  condition  of  mind,  out  of  which 
the  sciences  will  spring  as  naturally,  as  the 
leaves  and  blossoms  from  the  tree  that  bears 
them.  It  is  the  same  power  which  acts 
simultaneously  to  develop  the  soul  itself,  and 
to  develop  nature — to  form  the  mind  and 


90  GKOWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

the  mould  which  is  destined  to  receive  it. 
As  we  behold  the  external  face  of  the  world, 
our  souls  will  hold  communion  with  its 
spirit;  and  we  shall  seem  to  extend  our  con- 
sciousness beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  our 
own  bodies,  to  the  living  objects  that  sur- 
round us.  The  mind  will  enter  into  nature 
by  the  secret  path  of  him  who  forms  her ; 
and  can  be  no  longer  ignorant  of  her  laws, 
when  it  is  a  witness  of  her  creation. 

I  have  endeavored  to  illustrate,  generally, 
in  what  way  the  natural  sciences,  the  actual 
condition  of  society,  and  the  Word  of  God, 
are  necessary  to  the  development  of  all  minds, 
in  a  manner  analogous  to  that  in  which  the 
earth,  the  atmosphere  and  the  sun  combine 
to  bring  forth  the  productions  of  nature.  I 
shall  say  but  a  few  words  with  respect  to 
that  particular  development  which  is  requisite 
to  the  full  manifestation  of  the  peculiar  powers 
possessed  by  any  individual. 

It  is  well  known  that  at  a  certain  period 
of  life  the  character  of  a  man  begins  to  be 
more  distinctly  marked.  He  appears  to  be- 
come separated  from  that  which  surrounds 


GKOWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  91 

him — to  stand  in  a  measure  aloof  from  his 
associates — to  raise  his  head  above  the  shad- 
ow of  any  earthly  object  into  the  light  of 
heaven,  and  to  walk  with  a  more  determined 
step  on  the  earth  beneath.  This  is  the  man- 
ifestation of  a  character  which  has  always 
existed,  and  which  has,  as  it  were,  been  ac- 
cumulating by  little  and  little,  till  at  length 
it  has  attained  its  full  stature. 

When  a  man  has  become  his  own  master, 
it  is  left  to  himself  to  complete  his  own  ed- 
ucation. "  He  has  one  Father,  God."  For 
the  formation  of  his  character,  thus  far,  he  is 
not  in  the  strictest  sense  accountable ;  that 
is,  his  character  is  not  as  yet  so  fixed,  but 
that  it  is  yielding  and  pliable.  It  is  left  to 
himself  to  decide,  how  far  it  shall  remain  in 
its  present  form.  This  is  indeed  a  period  of 
deep  responsibility.  He  has  taken  the  guid- 
ance of  a  human  being,  and  is  not  the  less 
accountable,  that  this  being  is  himself.  The 
ligament  is  now  cut  asunder  by  which  his 
mind  was  bound  to  its  earthly  guardian,  and 
he  is  placed  on  his  own  feet,  exposed  to  the 
bleak  winds  and  refreshing  breezes,  the  clouds 


92  GKOWTH    OF   THE   MIND. 

and  the  sunshine  of  this  world,  fully  account- 
able to  God  and  man  for  his  conduct.  Let 
him  not  be  made  dizzy  from  a  sense  of  his 
own  liberty,  nor  faint  under  his  own  weight; 
but  let  him  remember  that  the  eye  of  God 
is  now  fixed  full,  it  might  almost  be  said 
anxiously,  upon  him. 

It  is  with  the  human  mind,  as  with  the 
human  body.  All  our  race  have  those  limbs 
and  features,  and  that  general  aspect,  from 
which  they  are  denominated  men.  But,  on 
a  nearer  view,  we  find  them  divided  into 
nations  possessed  of  peculiar  appearance  and 
habits,  and  these  subdivided  into  families  and 
individuals,  in  all  of  which  there  is  some- 
thing peculiarly  their  own.  The  human  mind 
(speaking  in  the  most  general  sense)  requires 
to  be  instructed  in  the  same  sciences,  and 
needs  the  same  general  development,  and  is 
destined  to  make  one  common  and  universal 
effort  for  its  own  emancipation.  But  the 
several  nations  of  the  earth  also  will,  at  a 
future  period,  stand  forth  with  a  distinctness 
of  character  which  cannot  now  be  conceived 
of.  The  part  which  each  is  to  perform  in 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  93 

the  regeneration  of  the  world,  will  become 
more  and  more  distinctly  marked  and  uni 
versally  acknowledged ;  and  every  nation  will 
be  found  to  possess  resources  in  its  own 
moral  and  intellectual  character,  and  its  own 
natural  productions,  which  will  render  it  es- 
sential to  the  well-being  and  happiness  of 
the  whole.  Every  government  must  find  that 
the  real  good  of  its  own  people  precisely 
harmonizes  with  that  of  others ;  and  standing 
armies  must  be  converted  into  willing  la- 
borers for  the  promotion  of  the  same  object. 
Then  will  the  nations  of  the  earth  resemble 
the  well-organized  parts  of  the  same  body, 
and  no  longer  convert  that  light  which  is 
given  them  for  the  benefit  of  their  brethren, 
into  an  instrument  by  which  they  are  de- 
graded and  enslaved. 

But  we  stop  not  here.  Every  individual 
also  possesses  peculiar  powers,  which  should 
be  brought  to  bear  on  society  in  the  duties 
best  fitted  to  receive  them.  The  highest 
degree  of  cultivation  of  which  the  mind  of 
any  one  is  capable,  consists  in  the  most  per- 
fect development  of  that  peculiar  organiza- 


94  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

tion,  which  as  really  exists  in  infancy  as  in 
maturer  years.  The  seed  which  is  planted 
is  said  to  possess  in  miniature,  the  trunk, 
branches,  leaves  and  fruit  of  the  future  tree. 
So  it  is  with  the  mind;  and  the  most  that 
can  possibly  be  done,  is  to  afford  facilities 
by  which  its  development  may  be  effected 
with  the  same  order.  In  the  process  of  the 
formation  of  our  minds  there  exists  the  spirit 
of  prophecy;  and  no  advancement  can  create 
surprise,  because  we  have  always  been  con- 
scious of  that  from  which  it  is  produced. 
We  must  not  seek  to  make  one  hair  white 
or  black.  It  is  in  vain  for  us  to  attempt  to 
add  one  cubit  to  our  stature.  All  adventi- 
tious or  assumed  importance  should  be  cast 
off,  as  a  filthy  garment.  We  should  seek  an 
employment  for  the  mind,  in  which  all  its  en- 
ergies may  be  warmed  into  existence ;  which 
(if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression)  may 
bring  every  muscle  into  action.  There  is 
something  which  every  one  can  do  better 
than  any  one  else ;  and  it  is  the  tendency, 
and  must  be  the  end,  of  human  events,  to 
assign  to  each  his  true  calling.  Kings  will 


GROWTH   OF   THE  MIND.  95 

be  hurled  from  their  thrones,  and  peasants 
exalted  to  the  highest  stations,  by  this  irre- 
sistible tendency  of  mind  to  its  true  level. 
These  effects  may  not  be  fully  disclosed  in 
the  short  period  of  this  life ;  but  even  the 
most  incredulous  must  be  ultimately  con- 
vinced that  the  truth  is  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons, by  learning  the  simple  fact,  that  a  man 
cannot  be  other  than  what  he  is.  Not  that 
endless  progression  in  moral  goodness  and  in 
wisdom  are  not  within  the  reach  of  any  one; 
but  that  the  state  will  never  arrive,  when  he 
may  not  look  back  to  the  first  rudiments, 
the  original  stamina  of  his  own  mind,  and 
be  almost  able  to  say,  I  possessed  all  at  the 
time  of  my  birth.  The  more  a  person  lives 
in  singleness  of  heart,  in  simplicity,  and  sin- 
cerity, the  more  will  this  be  apparent. 

It  becomes  us,  then,  to  seek  and  to  cherish 
this  peculium  of  our  own  minds,  as  the  pat- 
rimony which  is  left  us  by  our  Father  in 
heaven  —  as  that  by  which  the  branch  is 
united  to  the  vine — as  the  forming  power 
within  us,  which  gives  to  our  persons  that 
by  which  they  are  distinguished  from  others ; 


96  GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND. 

and,  by  a  life  entirely  governed  by  the  com- 
mandments of  God,  to  leave  on  the  duties 
we  are  called  to  perform  the  full  impress  of 
our  real  characters.  Let  a  man's  ambition 
to  be  great  disappear  in  a  willingness  to  be 
what  he  is;  then  may  he  fill  a  high  place 
without  pride,  or  a  low  one  without  dejec- 
tion. As  our  desires  become  more  and  more 
concentrated  to  those  objects  which  corre- 
spond to  the  peculiar  organization  of  our 
minds,  we  shall  have  a  foretaste  of  that 
which  is  coming,  in  those  internal  tendencies 
of  which  we  are  conscious.  As  we  perform 
with  alacrity  whatever  duty  presents  itself 
before  us,  we  shall  perceive  in  our  own  hearts 
a  kind  of  preparation  for  every  external  event 
or  occurrence  of  our  lives,  even  the  most 
trivial,  springing  from  the  all-pervading  ten- 
dency of  the  Providence  of  God,  to  present 
the  opportunity  of  being  useful  wherever  there 
is  the  disposition. 

Living  in  a  country  whose  peculiar  char- 
acteristic is  said  to  be  a  love  of  equal  liberty, 
let  it  be  written  on  our  hearts,  that  the  end 
of  all  education  is  a  life  of  active  usefulness. 


GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND.  97 

We  want  no  education  which  shall  raise  a 
man  out  of  the  reach  of  the  understanding, 
or  the  sympathies  of  any  of  his  species.  We 
are  disgusted  with  that  kind  of  dignity  which 
the  possessor  is  himself  obliged  to  guard ;  but 
venerate  that,  which,  having  its  origin  in  the 
actual  character  of  the  man,  can  receive  no 
increase  from  the  countenance  of  power,  and 
suffer  no  diminution  from  the  approach  of 
weakness — that  dignity  in  which  the  indivi- 
dual appears  to  live  rather  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  light  which  shines  from  above, 
than  in  that  of  his  own  shadow  beneath. 
There  is  a  spiritual  atmosphere  about  such  an 
one,  which  is  at  once  its  own  protection  and 
the  protection  of  him  with  whom  it  is  con- 
nected— which,  while  it  is  free  as  air  alike  to 
the  most  powerful  and  the  most  humble,  con- 
veys a  tacit  warning  that  too  near  an  approach 
is  not  permitted.  We  acknowledge  the  invisi- 
ble chain  which  binds  together  all  classes  of 
society,  and  would  apply  to  it  the  electric 
spark  of  knowledge  with  the  hand  of  tender- 
ness and  caution.  We  acknowledge  the 
healthy  union  of  mental  and  bodily  exercise, 

7 


98  GROWTH   OF  THE  MIND. 

and  would  rather  see  all  men  industrious  and 
enlightened,  than  to  see  one  half  of  mankind 
slaves  to  the  other,  and  these  slaves  to  their 
passions.  We  acknowledge  that  the  natural 
world  is  one  vast  mine  of  wisdom,  and  for 
this  reason  it  is  the  scene  of  the  labors  of 
man ;  and  that  in  seeing  this  wisdom,  there 
is  philosophy,  and  in  loving  it,  there  is  re- 
ligion. Most  sensibly  do  we  feel,  that  as 
the  true  end  of  instruction  is  to  prepare  a 
man  for  some  particular  sphere  of  usefulness ; 
when  he  has  found  this  sphere,  his  education 
has  then  truly  commenced,  and  the  finger  of 
God  is  pointing  to  the  very  page  of  the 
book  of  his  oracles,  from  which  he  may  draw 
the  profoundest  wisdom.  It  was  the  design 
of  Providence  that  there  should  be  enough 
of  science  connected  with  the  calling  of  each 
for  the  highest  and  holiest  purposes  of  heaven. 
It  is  the  natural  world  from  which  the  phi- 
losopher draws  his  knowledge  ;  it  is  the  nat- 
ural world  in  which  the  slave  toils  for  his 
bread.  Alas  !  when  will  they  be  one  ?  When 
we  are  willing  to  practise  what  we  learn, 
and  religion  makes  our  duty  our  delight. 


GROWTH   OF   THE   MIND.  99 

The  mass  of  mankind  must  always  labor; 
hence  it  is  supposed  that  they  must  be  al- 
ways ignorant.  Thus  has  the  pride  of  man 
converted  that  discipline  into  an  occasion  of 
darkness  and  misery,  which  was  intended 
only  to  give  reality  to  knowledge,  and  to 
make  happiness  eternal.  Truth  is  the  way 
in  which  we  should  act;  and  then  only  is  a 
man  truly  wise  when  the  body  performs 
what  the  mind  perceives.  In  this  way,  flesh 
and  blood  are  made  to  partake  of  the  wis- 
dom of  the  spiritual  man  ;  and  the  palms  of 
our  hands  will  become  the  book  of  our  life, 
on  which  is  inscribed  all  the  love  and  all 
the  wisdom  we  possess.  It  is  the  light  which 
directs  a  man  to  his  duty ;  it  is  by  doing 
his  duty  that  he  is  enlightened — thus  does 
he  become  identified  with  his  own  acts  of 
usefulness,  and  his  own  vocation  is  the 
silken  cord  which  directs  to  his  heart  the 
knowledge  and  the  blessings  of  all  mankind. 


THE    END. 


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